Just an average Witch?
by Completely Different
Summary: Chris is an orphan, but she's been living with a great family for years. But when she turns 11 a weird letter appears, and she's forced to think about her true parentage...
1. Chris

Hey, my names Chris. I'm 11, or nearly am. My birthday is tomorrow, and I really can't wait. 11 is the year that you're no longer a child, and become a pre-teen.

Of course, it isn't my real birthday. I was found outside an orphanage when I was really young, only a few months old. I was wrapped in a thin cloth, and didn't have a note or anything. So the orphanage named me Christy, and there I stayed for the next six years.

I was happy to get out of that orphanage. It wasn't that they treated me badly or anything, it's just and orphanage isn't a great place to grow up. You tend to feel different from the other kids at school, and sometimes you can feel really alone without a parent to hug. Also, I was never one of the really popular kids. I had a few friends (like a little boy named Mark, and my best friend Katie.) but most people thought I was a bit weird. This isn't my fault, it's just strange stuff tends to happen around me.

What do I mean? Well, one time these older girls were teasing me about my hair. It's flaming read, you see, and no matter what I do with it it's always messy. So they were calling me things like 'Flame head' and 'mop hair' and the weirdest thing happened. Their hair turned neon pink!

No matter what the workers did, they just couldn't figure out what happened. The girls just had to wait for the pink hair to grow out. It was really funny seeing the other kids make fun of them.

Or then there was this time where I almost fell of the monkey bars at school. I was really little then, and it was my first time on them. The ground looked really high up, so I started wishing I was somewhere else. And the next thing I knew, I was on the bench. Nobody knows how it happened.

But anyway, I was looking forward to a new start. I got adopted by a slightly older couple, Maggie and Kreg Robinson. They were nice to me, and soon I stared calling them Mom and Dad, and I love them very much.

Hey, I just realized! I haven't described myself. You already know I have read hair. I tell you, I can't do anything about it. And when ever I go for a hair cut, it just grows back.

I'm pretty scrawny, I got to say. I don't really look like much. And I'm not strong either. But boy, am I fast! I always win races at school, and I'm on the cross country team. You can find me in the school year book (yes, we have a year book); Christina Robinson, head of cross country team.

I'm also quite pale, which contrasts greatly with my read hair. But I've got freckles, funnily enough. Lots of freckles. Mom says they make me look cute, but I'm not so sure.

And now onto my favorite features. My eyes. They are very beautiful, if I do say so myself. They are large an emerald green, and sparkle a lot. I like them because I feel like the rest of me is so plain, and then I have these big sparkling pools in the middle of my face.

So that's a brief history of me. I'm nothing special, as you can see. I'm your normal, pre-pre-teen, shy orphaned girl, adopted by a loving family. And it's almost my birthday. Boy, I hope I get some good presents! Maybe I'll get that new bike Dad's been promising to get me…

Oops got to go. Mom says my first guest is here. It's my best friend, Julie.

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Hey, I'm back. What a great party. Mom baked this super cake- Milk chocolate with Carmel layers and vanilla icing! Yum.

It was pretty fun too. There was a piñata, and a swim at the local pool, and a trip to rip to the zoo. All my friends loved it.

And the presents! I got a new doll, and a game boy, a book (mom's present. Doesn't she know kids don't read?) Underwear (dad's) roller coaster tycoon, and for the grand finale- A KITTEN!

And it's the cutest kitten ever. It's just small enough to cuddle in my arms. He has big blue eyes, and his fur is a really red color like fire. Mom said it would match my hair. I think I'm going to name him Rusty.

I'll write to you later. Right it's time for dinner. And then I think I'll go and play with Rusty.


	2. A weird Letter

Sorry I haven't written to you guys in a while. It's been almost a month, and it's now late June. I've just been busy with school. You know, end of year tests.

But it's officially summer, which means no more boring lessons! Time to go to the beach, play on my bike, have sleepovers, maybe even go camping with Dad. Yep, you got to love summer…

Now, when I had just woken up, it was the same as always. The golden suns shine through my window, wrestling me from my nice comfy sleep. "Few more minutes…" I muttered, until the realization hit me. It was summer! And of course, I jumped out of my bed like all sane kids – I mean pre-teens- do.

So I bounded down the steps, and pecked my mom on the cheek, singing 'It's summer!' Mom had made me bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast (my favorite), and I was telling my parents exactly what I was going to do on the first day of this wonderful thing we call summer vacation.

After about half an hour of happy chatting, my dad looked up from his paper. He usually didn't have to leave for work until late because he's one of those tutors that teach kids in the afternoon. My mom has a bakery, but she doesn't need to be down there all the time, and tends to leave a little early to make me breakfast.

"Time to get the mail." said my dad, and he put the paper down, and went to get the mail. He came back with a pile of boring looking envelope. "Let's see," he muttered, fanning through the mail. "Bills, Bills, Your Magazine Dear, Bills, Bills, Bills, Letter from Uncle Alfred, Junk,- Oh, something for you Chris." He smiled, and held up a large envelope.

It was very large, and was made of old fashioned envelope. I went and grabbed it, and looked over it. It had emerald green ink, saying 'Christina Robinson, number 9, Wellford road, the second bedroom'. Keeping it shut was a wax seal, in the shape of a coat of arms. On it was a Badger, a Raven, a snake and a lion, all surrounding a large ornate H.

"Weird…" I muttered, and ripped it open.

I gazed upon the thick piece of parchment, words written in the same ink. It said this:

Miss Robinson,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry.

Considering the fact that your legal guardians are muggles (non-magic folk), a representative will come to fill you in on June 9th, at around 11 o'clock.

We will await your owl no later than July 31st.

Sincerely,

Neville Longbotton,

Deputy Headmaster

I stared at the letter for quite a long time, unsure of weather I should go and shout 'I'm Magic!' or break into hysterical laughter. So I simply passed it over to Mom.

Mom read it and began to chuckle quietly. "Funny! Kreg, look at this funny letter."

"You think it's fake?" I asked my mom. I wasn't really sure if I believed it myself.

"Why of course it's fake Honey." said my Dad after reading it. "You know magic isn't real."

"Yes Chris. Some joker simply went and made this fake letter and put it in our mail box hoping to get a laugh."

I bit my lip. For some reason, I didn't really believe that. I don't know why (after all, I'd stopped believing in wizards and fairies years ago) but something was telling me this was different. I can't really explain it.

"I don't know." I picked up the envelope, and looked at the wax seal still clinging to it. It seemed like a lot of work for a small joke. But if you had magic, it would be easy wouldn't it?

As I was peering at the envelope, another piece of parchment fell out. I read it quickly, and realized it was a school list. It talked about uniform, a cauldron, spell books, pets, even a magical wand!

"Look! It's an equipment list!" My parents looked at it, but told me again it simply wasn't real.

"But, what if it is? It would explain why all those weird things happened." I heisted for a second, but continued. "What if my real parents were magic?" I never really talked or thought about my real parents. Why I was younger, I had imagined them a few times, but that had been ages ago. I began to think that if they hadn't cared for me enough to take care of me, I really shouldn't think about it to much. But this was different.

"Chris, I really don't think your parents had 'magical powers'. Magic just isn't real. If it was, we'd all be flying around on brooms talking to ghosts." I'm not sure, but when see said that I had a weird image of a boy in red robes flying… But it was gone before I really saw it.

I tried to argue my point a little longer, but it was no use. My parents didn't believe. But who would? There was no proof of magic, and flying broomsticks or talking animals. Do eventually I was forced to admit, that even if it was true, no one would believe. And then, it probably wasn't even real.

None the less, I still took the letters into my room, and put it on a shelf where neither Rusty nor my parents could get it.


	3. An interesting visit

The next few days went by really well. It was a pretty good summer. I played at the park, went to an amusement park, and had a couple sleepovers. You know, all the normal things.

But I just couldn't get the letter out of my head. Something seemed to be pulling me to believe in what it said, even if it was insane.

So there I was, sitting on the couch in my living room, petting Rusty, who was purring affectionately as I scratched him behind the ears.

I had decided to take a day to chill- I had been up really late last night watching horror movies, and I really didn't feel like going anywhere.

Dad was out tutoring, but mom was home. She was upstairs working on some thing that bakery managers do. So with her busy typing up on her key board, I pretty much had the house to myself.

At around eleven I walked into the kitchen to get something to eat. I rummaged through the cupboards, and fridge, me muttering all the while about what we had. "Ice cream, coke, cookies, cold pizza- Hmm, that would make a good lunch.

I happily got the double cheese pizza with pepperoni and onions and popped it in the micro wave. I was waiting impatiently for it to finish, when the door bell rang.

"CHRIS! Can you get the door? I'm busy!" My mom called from upstairs, and I sighed, and walked into the front hall.

I opened the door, wondering who would be there. "Hello?" I started, but stopped mid-word.

Standing there was the larges man I had ever seen. He was three times taller than myself, and was almost as wide as the door. He had a wild beard that covered most of his face. His hair was black, but had begun to gray. He was wearing a large brown coat covered in pockets, and in his left hand he carried a pink umbrella that seemed to be very small compared to the man who carried it.

I stared at him for a few seconds, until it occurred to me to say something. "Um, hi?" I said shyly.

"Er, 'ello. I'm looking for a Christy Robinson?" said the man.

"That's me." I spoke quietly, not really sure how to address this man.

The man smiled (I couldn't actually see his mouth through his break, but I could tell). "Ah, I'm Rubeus Hagrid. But call me Hagrid. I'm the representative from Hogwarts." I gaped. I suddenly remembered something from the letter. 'A representative will come and will you in on the 9th, at 11 o'clock'.

"Really?" I said, amazed that it was true after all.

"Course. Didn't ye read yer letter?" I nodded. "Then, mind if I come in?"

I blushed. I had completely forgotten my manners, all because I had met a giant. At least I think he's a giant, because he certainly seems big enough.

"Er yes, sorry." I stepped in, and he squeezed through the door, and I let him into the living room. He went and sat down on the couch, taking up more than half of it.

"Um, should I go get my mom." I asked. I felt awkward.

"Yeah, it's probably best if yer mum hears 'bout this. Gotta make sure yer parents understand about the school." I nodded, and ran up the stairs to my mom's study but paused at the door. What if she didn't believe me?

I opened the door slowly and said "Mom?"

Mom turned around, a smile playing at her lips. "Hi Sweetie. Who was at the door?"

"It's a man named Hagrid. He's," I hesitated and then continued, "He's from Hogwarts."

Mom blinked for a few seconds, obviously trying to remember what Hogwarts was, but then she sighed. "Oh Chris, I thought we'd discussed this."

"But Mom, it really is true! There's this really big man sitting in our living room who I think is a giant!"

Mom rolled her eyes, and got out of the chair. "Fine, I'll go meet this man. What's his name again- Hagar or something."

"Hagrid." I told her, and she followed me down the stairs into the living room. Still sitting on the couch was Hagrid, gently petting Rusty who seemed to have taken a liking to him.

When Hagrid saw us he smiled. "Nice cat, but I'm 'fraid I'm allergic to them. Personally I prefer dragons." A dreamy look came about him, at the word.

"You saw a Dragon?" I asked, amazed. It hadn't accrued to me that there really were dragons.

"Course I have. Used to have a baby one to, named Norbert." Suddenly Hagrid looked a little nervous. "But promise you won't tell anyone that- it's against the rules."

I nodded, and went to look at my mother. She looked a little faint.

"Hello, my daughter said you had come from that magic school."

Hagird looked up at her, smiling. "Yes, that's me. I'm keeper of the keys and grounds of Hogwarts, and of course Care of Magical creatures Professor." He sounded really quite proud of the last one.

"Er, Yes. I just have a question. Is it really true? This isn't some practical joke or stunt is it?"

Hagrid chuckled slightly. "No, it's real alright. There's an entire population of magical folk living hidden from muggles eyes." I tried to imagine it. A whole magical world, with things like faeries and griffins and enchantments. It was something that all children dream of.

"Can you show us some magic?" I asked, hoping he would. It would prove that it was real.

"Guess there's no harm in that." He took out his pink umbrella, and looked around the living room. His eyes settled on a candle on the coffee table. He raised it over it, and made it do a funny little motion.

The candle spurted little legs and arms, and began to do a little dance. But after a few seconds its legs collapsed as if they couldn't hold the weight.

"Wow!" I breathed, amazed. Mom was looking stunned too.

Hagrid sighed, and tapped the exhausted candle. "Not a bad try, but I was hoping to make it stay up fer longer." I didn't think there was any reason to be disappointed. I mean, he had still made a candle DANCE!

Mom stood staring at him for a few more seconds, awestruck. Then she seemed to recover herself.

"Thank you, that was amazing. You've defiantly proved to me it's real. And that letter said that Chris here is magic. So does that mean she will be able to do that?"

"With the right training she will. Hogwarts is the top magical school in Europe, and teaches a wide Varity o subjects, including transfiguration, charms, potions, herbolgy, and history o magic." As he said it, my mom sat down, and I followed suit. This sounded like it was going to get interesting.

"Ok. So may I ask where this school is located?"

"Well, we can't tell ya where exactly. But it's in Scotland. The school itself is in Hogwarts castle, one o the most magically protected buildings in the world." I tried to imagine going to school in a castle. "We have quite extensive grounds, including a lake, a forest, Quidditch Pitch-"

'What's Quidditch?" I asked. It sounded quite strange.

"Oh, it's a magical sport. I'm not very good at explaining it, but it's played on brooms, and it's got four balls. Real exciting it is." Once again I remembered the image of the boy in red riding a broomstick.

I looked at my mom wide eyed. "Please can I go mom? Please!" It was a dream come true.

"I don't know. I'll have to discuss it with your father. This is a very big choice." I gave her a pleading look, the type I give her when I really want to buy something at the toy store.

Hagird grunted slightly. "I would suggest making up yer mind quickly. If she does go, Chris here will 'ave to get her supplies, and I need to take her. And I wouldn't suggest not letting her go. Unchecked magic tends to go array." Suddenly I remembered all the weird stuff that happened to me, when I was scared of falling, and mad at those girls. Hagrid saw my expression of understanding a smiled.

"See what I mean? Schooling will not only prevent things like that from happening, but allow Chris to tap into her magic and use it at her will."

I gazed at my mom, longing in my eyes. I gave her the puppy-dog look, the one I had learned long ago that she couldn't say no when it was used. "Please mom?"

She looked at Hagrid, and then at me. She had that look that parents put on their face when they are trying to decide whether or not to buy their kid the toy they really want. Finally she gave in. "Well Chris, if it's really what you want, I guess I really can't stop you." I swear I could have jumped up and hugged her right then and there.

"Right," Started Hagird, and although he still sounded business like, I could see a glint of amusement in his eyes. "We best be going. Diagon Alley can be quite a handful, especially if you've never been there before." He got up like he was about to leave.

"Not so fast. Before we go anywhere, I'm calling my husband." And that is how the first day in my new life started.


	4. Diagon Alley

It took a while to convince my dad that it wasn't some insane joke my mom and I had cooked up for him. But once we finally got him to believe that I really was a witch and that I was going to a school for magic, dad was ecstatic. I guess I should of known that. As an English tutor dad read a lot, and fantasy was one of his favorite- what's that word? Oh yeah- genre.

We all loaded into the car, ready to go to Diagon Alley- which is apparently right in the middle of London! And I'm telling you, I was never so happy to have a big van. Hagrid just barley fitted into the seats, taking up the two back ones. All the same, he still had to spend the ride with his head bent down.

It didn't take us to get to the center of London- only about half an hour. So mom found a parking lot pretty quickly, and we all got out. As soon as he was out of the car Hagrid began to massage his neck, muttering about weird muggles contraptions.

Hagrid started to lead us through the streets, breaking the crowd easily with his size. I wasn't really sure what the entrance to Diagon alley would look like, but I knew I hadn't seen it yet. None of the shops we had pasted looked anything like a place you could find magic wands.

Suddenly Hagrid stopped, and it took me a few moments to figure out why. I realized after looking around the street that is was probably the pub he had stopped in front of. It was small and shabby looking, and had a sign dangling from it which said 'The Leakey Cauldron', that I felt would be an appropriate name for an entrance to a magical street.

"Is that it?" I pointed at the pub.

"Yep. Most famous pub in the whole wizarding world."

My mom just looked around blankly. "What, the cinema?"

"No mom, not that. The Leakey Cauldron."

Hagrid once again turned a bright red. "Sorry 'bout that. Forgot that muggles can't see the Leakey Caldron from the outside. You'll just have to hold on to one o' us Mrs. Robinson.

"Really? Are a lot of things like that?"

Hagrid gave me a kind smile. "Lots o' buildings. If a muggle were to see Hogwarts they would just see an old abandoned building. And some buildings are unplotable so nobody can put 'em on a map.

"Cool." I said. Then noticing that Hagird was walking into the pub, I grabbed my Mom and followed him in.

Mom gasped as we went in. I guess it must have been pretty weird to find yourself inside a building which you couldn't see from the outside.

The pub itself didn't seem to strange. It was the people that really interested me. Something that looked like a goblin drinking a bright red liquid, a man reading newspaper with moving pictures, spoons that were stirring the tea by themselves. And all of them were wearing robes.

A really old barman- And I mean really old. He was shriveled, and had no teeth. I was sort of surprised he was still alive. But maybe wizards live longer than normal people.

Anyway, the man waved to Hagird. Hagrid simply shook his head sadly. "Sorry Tom, Hogwarts business. Muggle born needs to get her supplies."

The barman- Tom, Hagird had called him gave a toothless grin. "Got to get her supplies the, don't ya. But come by for a drink later, will ya?"

"Maybe. But I got to be going." He gave one last wave to the old man, and walked through the scattered table, my mom and I following.

A few people waved too Hagrid as we walked by, and I got the impression that Hagrid was fell known. It was really interesting to see the people he knew. There was this really old ugly witch that gave Hagrid a smile that sent a chill down my spine, and this one really short and squeaky man that said hello to him. But my favorite would have to be this one witch. She was sort of pretty, but she had bright pink hair! And when she saw me looking at it, she winked at me and turned it purple!

Hagrid soon came to a back door (although it was quite big for one) and went through it, us to following. We had found ourselves in a small brick courtyard. There was hardly enough room for all three of us, and the only thing in it was a trash can. I wasn't really sure how this could be a magical high street…

I gave Hagrid a questioning look, and mom started to ask a question. But before it was halfway through her mouth, Hagrid pulled out his pink umbrella, and started tapping the bricks on the wall. My mom looked like she thought he had gone loony, but I had begun to figure out what was going on.

The bricks started to move away, making a hole that even Hagrid could easily slide through. And lying in the place of the bricks was the most amazing place I have ever seen.

It reminded me of movies I had seen of old bustling towns, only this was ten times more amazing. Colors glittered every where. I could here little explosions, and there were items singing. There was one person flying above the throng on a broomstick, and a little boy eating a candy which turned him into a bird.

Mom and I walked down the streets amazed. The sights, the smells. I didn't understand how we could never have known that such an amazing place existed.

As we walked down Diagon Alley, I caught snippets of conversation:

"Sid, if you don't be quiet I'll hex your mouth together."

"Please can I have the new thunderbolt dad?"

"I'll have three ounces of bicorn horn and five eyes of newt please."

As you can tell, this stuff was way more interesting than normal conversations. Fir theses people magic seemed as normal as you or me using a telephone, or something.

But after what seemed hours (but it was really only like six minutes) of watching this amazing world unfold in front of our eyes, something else towered in front of us. It was a snow white building- so white that I don't think it could have been made of marble. It towered so high that I wondered how it could stay up. It seemed to lean to the side, giving it a magical appearance.

"Hagird! What is it?"

"'Mazing, aint it? That's Gringotts, the wizard bank."

My mom looked surprised. "Wizards have banks?"

"Course they do, they need something to protect their money." My mom looked a little sheepish. "And Gringotts is best in the world. Only one person has ever managed to break into it, and they didn't even steal anything."

"Who?" I asked. I couldn't think of any bank in the –what's the word Hagrid used? - Muggle world that had such a success rate.

"You-know-who." said Hagrid darkly.

My mom and I shared a glance. "No, we don't know who."

Hagrid looked surprised for a second, and then a look of understanding spread across his face. "Forgot you wouldn't no. I don't think I should tell ya, least no here. Let's just say he was a very evil and powerful wizard. Hardly anyone dares to speak his name." And then he shook his head as if to get rid of the memory of this 'You-Know-Who' guy.

Hagrid motioned for us to go up the big stairs leading to the bank. Soon we got to the giant doors that were, like four times bigger than me! Engraved on it was some sort of poem about stealing, and I think I understood why nobody ever stole from this place.

The inside of the place was giant, and really crowded. All away along the walls were these big desks with old fashioned counting instruments and stuff. At each one was what I'm now positive is a goblin. I'll tell you that they certainly didn't look real friendly. I sort of pressed closer to my mom when one gave me an evil look- but don't tell anyone.

So we went up to one of the desks, and mom Hagird and some freaky Goblin started talking about a 'Muggle Money Exchange Program'. But I think we'll just skip this bit. One thing I've learned, it doesn't matter whether or not you in a muggle office, or a giant white building, banks are still boring.

So how about we go to the shopping. Usually I hate shopping (unless it's fro something like toys or music). The thing I hate most is clothes shopping. My mom is the worst. She takes like an hour to pick out clothes, and then makes me try everything on. Then she makes me try everything that fits on again, just to see if it matched other clothes! UGH!

But I'll tell you, the robes shop wasn't too bad. The lady who works there (Madam Malkim, or something) seemed to know exactly what I needed. I got some black robes with silver trimmings and a winter cloak. But my favorite was this thing called a dress robe, which was made of a light material a bit like silk, but different. It was a pretty green, and matched my eyes. She says that this year there may be some type of formal event that I will have to wear it to. It sounds awesome. I wonder what wizard balls are like.

The next stop was this potions ingredients shop. It has some old English or Latin name, but I was never really good at languages (Cough- French- cough). It was cool I suppose, with stuff like unicorn hair and hippogriff feather (whatever that is). But I tell you it stank to high heaven! And some of the stuff was really gross. Mom didn't even want to go in.

The book store was really cool. These were textbooks that I wouldn't mind reading. Ways to amaze you friends and jinx your enemies, human transformation for beginners, and the big book of pranks. Those were all there. Of course I mostly bought school books, but I got one or two fro my own enjoyment.

Now, then there was the wand shop. Apparently it's been open since before Christ! So of course, the inside was a little freaky.

There was almost no light, and all the walls were lined with square boxes. At first I thought the place was empty, because it was so quiet.

Suddenly an old man came out. He looked over 80, and was really frail. He had a weird scar on his face and spooky blue eyes that seemed to gaze through me. I shivered involuntarily.

"Ah, Miss. I was wondering when I would see you here." I have to admit I thought that was weird. How could he have been expecting me? I didn't even know I' been a witch for a day. "So, may you tell me what your name is?"

I was pretty sure he was faking it. If he really knew I was coming, I'm sure he would have known my name. But none the less, I answered. "Christy Robinson." I stammered. I don't know why, but this guy made me nervous.

"Ahh." He made the little sound of understanding, and gave me a knowing look. "Well Miss. Robinson, we best start on getting your wand. Would you please hold out your wand arm?"

I wasn't really sure what my arm wand was, but I stuck out my right arm. Then the guy started to take a bunch of measurements with a floating tape measurer. This day was getting weirder and weirder.

Muttering, the man retreated into the selves. We he came back a few minutes later he was laden with like 15 boxed of wands.

He handed me this light brown one. "Yew, unicorn Hair, 9inches." So I just stood there looking confused. He was staring at me intently. "Well, wave it!"

"Right." I muttered, and started flicking the stick around like I'd seen in Disney movies, feeling ridiculous. I few green sparks flew out of the wand, but other that that, nothing happened.

This went on for a couple more wands, weirder and weirder stuff happening. My arm was beginning to get tired, and I was sure that if it went on for much longer I would destroy the shop.

Suddenly a look of inspiration hit. "What if…." He faded away, and went back into the rows of wands. He came back, carrying a very dusty box.

"Try this" He wheezed. "Holly with Phoenix Feather core, 10 inches." I sighed, and picked up the wand.

I weird feeling spread across me. It was if electricity was flowing through my body. I also felt like I had just gotten into a nice warm bath. I waved my wand, and beautiful red spark flew out, making pretty shapes.

"Ahh, I thought so. So it is true." I looked at him curiously.

"Miss Robinson, I have sold hundreds of wands. And I have learned to see patterns in them. Phoenix and Holly was the same combination that your father had."

I looked up at him, amazed. "You know my father? He's a wizard? Who is he?" The man shook his head.

"My dear girl, there are some things best discovered on your own. But for now, scatter."

He signaled to my mom, who had been waiting out side. She paid the strange man, and took me outside, where Hagrid was waiting.

As I left the shop, clutching my new wand, I felt as if a weight had been dropped on me. I knew that my father was a wizard. Who was he?

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We sat at a small café, eating a sandwich and drinking some pumpkin juice ( I didn't even know people drunk pumpkin juice) Hagrid had gone to have a drink at the Leaky Cauldron. Mom had told him that we could handle it form now.

"Chris, are you okay?" She asked me. I guess I had been spacing out a bit.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." I gave her a smile for proof.

'Get a hold of yourself', I thought. 'There's no use thinking about it. You'll find out when you do.'

"So, anywhere left to go?" Mom asked me. I took the school list out of my pocket and inspected it. It looked like we had gotten everything- clothes, scales, telescope.

"Yeah, were done. We should probably go home soon." I looked down the street. I didn't really want to leave; there was just so much cool stuff to see.

Suddenly a shop caught my eye. It had the most amazing window display I had ever seen- muggle or magic.

Little fireworks were exploding in the window. Brightly colored banners shone, and I could have sworn that I heard bangs coming from it.

"Hey Mom, can we go there?" It certainly looked like a good place to go.

Mom looked at the shop and smiled. "I guess we still have time for one more shop."

Mom paid (after struggling with the wizard money for a bit) and we went towards the shop. It looked even cooler up close. There were cute little animals, and weird prank stuff. I read the name of the shop in large letters that were constantly changing colors. 'Weasley's Wizard's Wheezes', it read.

We walked into the shop, and I was blown away by the stuff inside. They had everything, from cosmetics, toys, pranks, and candies. I stared and stared. So did mom, although she got a bit sidetracked at the magical makeup.

I gazed and gazed at the stuff. This was got to have been the coolest stuff on the planet! I was so distracted that- wham! I crashed right into something.

That something turned out to be a boy, just a bit shorter that me. He was wearing a shirt that said 'I'm a prankster, and proud of it'. He had brown hair, with a slightly reddish tint to it. He also had brown eyes that twinkled. His cheek had a small scar, and a mischievous smile played at his lips.

"Sorry." I muttered.

"Don't be. But you could try one of these sweets." He had that look on his face that one of the boys in my class always has before he's about to play a practical joke.

"What is it?" I asked warily.

"It's a candy my dad invented. It's meant to make your hair turn pink, and your skin start to glow- temporarily of course." I stared at him. "I'm Mark Weasley. My dad owns the shop."

"Really? That's so cool!"

"It is a bit, but you get used to it." None the less, he sounded a bit smug. "So who are you, pretty lady?"

"Chris. I'm new around here…" Mark smiled kindly.

"Starting Hogwarts too? I can't wait. My cousins have told me all about it! And I will finally get to use all these tricks," He motioned around the store. "in context. I can't wait to get those Slytherins."

I blinked. "Slytherins?"

"You must be muggle born. Slytherin is a house at Hogwarts, and there the worse bunch. Almost all of them turn out to be evil.

I didn't really think that could be true, but I nodded anyway. "Cool. What are the other houses?"

"Well, there's Ravenclaw, the brainiacs of the bunch. Then there's the Hufflepuffs, they're sort of jacks of all trades. But then there's the best house- Gryffindor. My hole family have been in there fro three generations, a I intend to join them."

We chatted for a little while. Mark was really interesting. He knew so much stuff about the wizarding world, and chatted about things like dragons like it was normal. I really didn't want to leave when mom said we had to go (with a bottle of wrinkle remover in her hand.)

As we left, Mark waved to me. "See ya at school Chris!" He called. I couldn't help but feel as if I had just made my first friend in the weird world.


	5. telling a friend

Dad was excited to see the stuff we had brought home. He even took one of my school books to read. I couldn't actually blame him, the stuff was pretty interesting.

I personally felt a little distant form the world which I had fit into so well a few days before. I kept thinking about the start of the school year (September 1st). I read through my books, hoping to better understand the world I was going into. I sometimes wished I could try a spell, but that's meant to be against the law.

I was more excited about going to school than I had ever been in my life. And that includes when I started preschool. But you can't really blame me for being excited about learning how to make things fly and learn about stuff like unicorns, can you?

I was so hyped up about it that I forgot about a little other thing. That my best friend ever, Julie, would have her heart broken when I tell her.

So it went like this. About three weeks had pasted since I we had gone to Diagon Alley. Summer still wasn't near over- we still had about a month left, but pre-school hype was starting up again. It was the usual things ('I'm so afraid of starting at a new school', and 'Don't be silly. Every one knows that secondary school is way better than primary'.) Of course, this really didn't hit me until I was over at Julie's house one day.

Julie has been my best friend since like P.2. We have always been real close- we even have one of those 'Best Friends Forever' bracelets. Julie herself is a bit more girly than me. She has brown hair that she always has up in pig tails. She has naturally dark skin, and bluish gray eyes.

But anyway, we were in her living room, watching TV. Well, we weren't really paying attention, as we had seen the episode like 100 times. So, Julie go's and says;

"Boy, I cant' wait to start Secondary school! We can go to all the classes together, and be partners in every class. Do you think the teachers will be nice?"

Guilt surged through me like a tidal wave. Julie and I had been planning to go to the same secondary school for ages. We had forced our parents to sign us up at the same one, and under our influence our parents had begged the school to let us be in the same homeroom and class. We'd both been looking forward to all the cool new classes like food technology and drama. Plus, she was the only girl I knew that was going to that school, so we had been depending on each other to get us through the first few awkward weeks without friends.

I gulped. I really didn't want to tell Julie that I wouldn't be going to school with her after all, but what choice did I have. She would have to find out eventually…

"Ah, Julie, about that." I started, my heat thumping.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not going to Kingston Secondary anymore!" I blurted it out quickly, as if saying the words faster would make them hurt my friend less.

"WHAT! You can't! We always promised that we'd go to school together! Why can't you come?" She looked sad, and frustrated, and a bit angry. I hoped it wasn't me she was angry at.

I had to come up with a lie quick. I knew I couldn't tell her about the wizarding world (Hagrid had explained this to me) but I had to make it seem convincing. "I got this weird scholarship to this really fancy boarding school. Mom and dad are forcing me to go."

She had a look of utmost disbelief on her face. "A Scholarship! Your 11! People don't give out scholarships to 11 year olds. And why do your parents want you to go to some stupid boarding school anyway?"

She really wasn't taking it well, as you can see. "It's a school for kids with special abilities," I almost smiled there. That wasn't a real lie. "My parents say it will be a good opportunity for me." I paused for a moments and lied, "I really don't want to go."

Julie came over to me and gave me one of those hugs friends give you when they feel really sorry for you. "Oh, I'm so sorry Chris!"

I felt really guilty as I sat their hugging her. Her she was feeling sorry for me, hugging me ever, and all I had done was abandoned her for Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"I'm really going to miss you Chris! I was looking forward so much to going to Kinston together. But I'm being so selfish! It will be doubly hard for you! You won't even have family friends, and you'll have to sleep in dormitories with people who you might not even like!" Then a expression of embarrassment came over her face, and she changed the direction she had been heading to completely. "But, don't think about that. I'm sure it won't be that bad. And I'll right to you every week!"

Remember that guilt I mentioned earlier? It tripled when she said that.

"Thanks Julie" I said as she got off from me. "I'm really sorry we can't go to school together."

She gave me one of those consoling smiles. "It's okay. I'll manage. So what's this boarding school called any way?"

"Hog-" I broke off, not sure that giving the real name would be a good idea. "Hugoton. It's in Scotland. "

"Hugoton?" She said scornfully. "Boy I feel sorry for you. Who would want to go to a school with a name like that?"

The next few hours passed uneventfully. And although I could tell Julie was trying to forget that we wouldn't be going to school together for the first time since we were seven, she kept answering questions.

As I walked home that evening, I felt as if my excitement about going to Hogwarts had drained out of me. Yeah, I was going to Hogwarts to learn magic, but at the cost of my best friend.


	6. a little talk

**Yes, I know these last two chapters have been short. I'm sorry, it only accrued to me to put them as one later.**

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For the rest if the summer, my guilt dragged at my heart like a lead weight. I couldn't stop thinking about how much Julie was going to miss me. Almost everyday I would go and play with Julie. I could tell that she seemed to be a bit down. She hardly laughed and kept asking questions about my school. I really feel bad about leaving her; it really looks like she's going to miss me…

Okay, okay, I admit it. It's not just that Julie's going to miss me. It's that I'll miss her too. We've been friends for ages, and she's always been there for me. She was really my first good friend since when I felt the orphanage, and she always helped me out. She even stayed with me at the park in the rain while I searched for my toy Mr. Snuffles.

I must admit I'm having second thoughts about going to Hogwarts. Even if I do write to her, it will never be the same.

Also, remember when I first told her about how I was going to Hogwarts? Well, she said a lot of stuff about how bad boarding schools can be. I know she didn't mean it, but what if it's true. What if I can't make any friends (I know there's Mark, but I only met him once). I also realized I know hardly anything about the school. What if they use the whip? What if the food is really awful? I then I started to think about how dangerous the classes could be….

I tried to hide it to my family. I had always considered my self brave and stuff, and I didn't want to admit to my parents that I was scared. But mom was way to good, and saw past my little disguise.

"Chris, are you alright? You've been acting a bit strange lately." She asked me one night when I came downstairs to watch TV.

"I'm fine mom." But mom gave me that look. How do parents (even foster ones) always know when you're lying?

"Are you sure? You know you can tell me anything, right Chris?" I hesitated for a second, but then sat down on the edge of the couch, next to mom.

"I'm just having second thoughts about Hogwarts. I'm a bit nervous, and I'm afraid that I won't make any friends."

Mom wrapped her arm around me. "Is that all? Sweetie, don't worry. It's always like that when you start a new school."

"But this is different. Julie's going to miss me, and we won't even see each other for most of the year. And what if I don't like Hogwarts?"

"Chris, Julie will make new friends, and so will you. You need to learn to meet other people, its part of growing up. Trust me, we've all been through this, and there's sure to be someone there for you."

I searched around, trying to find another reason. Isn't it funny how we can search for reasons, even if we know it's silly, and we really want the thing were battling against?

"It's not just friends I'm worried about. I'm afraid of the school itself. What if there are dangerous monsters or something?" I knew that I sounded like a little kid, but this was a school for magic we were talking about. "And the classes might be dangerous. What if I get turned into an animal, or bitten by a vampire or something?"

Mom sighed, and looked me in the eyes. "Is this what you're worried about? Oh Chris, you were so excited about it last week!"

"I know, but I had this talk with Julie, and I was looking through my school books. Oh mom, I don't think I'm ready for this!"

"Look, I'm not going to pretend that I know anything about magical schools. But I highly doubt that the school would be allowed to stay opened if it was that dangerous. Remember that Ministry of Magic they told you about? They wouldn't let kids get hurt. Besides, think about how cool it would be to live in a castle by an enchanted forest. So what if you get a little bit hurt? No pain, no gain right?"

I smiled slightly. Mom always knew what to saw to cheer me up. "Now look Chris, I'll understand if you don't want to go to Hogwarts. But don't get scared off by your imagination. This is a bog opportunity for you."

I just looked at her. I realized she was right. I was being silly. Of course Hogwarts would be scary, but Kingston could be to, right (Science laboratory + dangerous chemicals BOOM!) And I'll make new friends, and so will Julie.

"Thanks Mom. Your right."

"Don't worry about it. It's natural to feel this way. You can always ask me for help." Then she gave me a little kiss on the forehead.

"Mom is it okay if you give Julie letters from me. You know, I'll send you letters by those owls Hagrid told us about, and then you can give it to Julie?"

"Of course I will. But you have to remember to send us letters to." Her voice was serious, but her eyes laughed.

So I got up from the couch, and just stood there for a second, my mom smiling.

"Uh, Mom, could I please watch my show?"

Mom chuckled. "Fine. I need to get off my but anyway."


	7. Kings Cross

**Well, she's finally going to Hogwarts. I think this is one of my favorite chapters so far because the Twins are in it, and I have always liked them.**

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IT'S TODAY! That's right, today's the first of September, and I'm going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!

I could hardly sleep all last night I was so excited. I couldn't sit still. All I could think about was getting to learn magic. I finally fell asleep at about 11 and when I did I had a really weird dream.

I think it must have been my excitement leaking into my sleep, be because it was really magical.

So it goes like this. I'm walking around what seems to be an underground lake. There's another person besides me, an old man with a really long beard. The ground were walking on is really thin, and I know that I shouldn't touch the water (don't ask me why. It's just a weird dream). There's this eerie green light coming from across the water, which is really calm, and as black as the night sky. I start to talk to the old man, but I really can't remember what I was saying. But suddenly I stick out what looks to be a wand, and say what I bet is a spell. I'm sure I saw it in one of my text books. But anyway, I say this spell, and for a few seconds nothing happens, and then this thing jumps out of the water!

I know there's more to the dream, but I can't remember it. I wish I did though, it seems really important. And it was so realistic.

But, I didn't have time to ponder my night time thoughts, because everyone was really busy preparing me for school. I had already packed my suitcase full of all my stuff. It's amazing how much it all weighed, especially the cauldron and potions ingredients.

But the thing that was the hardest was catching Rusty. I'm taking him with me. The letter says were aloud cats, and I don't want to leave him at home. But Rusty really didn't want to get in the cage (I think it reminds him of the trip to the vet). I chased him all over the house, and after half an hour of it I was wishing I could just stupefy it like it says in my charms book.

I did eventually corner him under a couch, and I did get him into his blue traveling cage. Unfortunately I'm now covered in scratches.

Mom put some bandages on my scratches, and gave me a piece of buttered toast. Then she hurried me into our car, talking about how it was such a rush. It was really cramped in there, with both of my parents, Rusty's cage and my backpack.

Dad had been giving me a lecture about tips to use when starting at a new school (which while useful, was also a bit boring.) He had just gotten to the part about joining clubs, when mom started cursing everything on the Earth about the bad traffic, and telling dad to shut up, that he had to stop. If there's one thing we learned, you don't mess with my mom if she's frustrated and driving.

We did get there eventually (with half an hour to spare). I would like to tell you that we obeyed the law perfectly to get there in such short time, but that's my mom.

So there we were, dad pushing one of the trolleys holding all my stuff, and me carrying my backpack.

"So, what platform are we meant to get onto?" Mom asked, looking up and down the station as if I sign with appear telling her where to go.

"Just a sec." I told her, and took the backpack form my bag, and started rummaging in my bag for the ticket. I had put it with my other school letters. "Her it is. It says platform 9 and…" I broke off, starring at in confusion.

"Right, platform 9." Said my Mom determinedly, and she started to walk down the Kings Cross in the direction of platform 9.

"No Mom! Not platform 9. It's 9 and 3/4!"

Mom stopped the cart, and looked at me. "Chris, don't be silly! There's no platform 9 and 3/4."

I looked back at the ticket. It said; Hogwarts Express, leaving at 11:00 September 1st, at Kings Cross Station, platform 9 and ¾. "Well, that's what it says."

Mom demanded that she see the ticket, and when she was positive that was indeed what it said, and that the platform defiantly did not exist, she began to freak out. She almost went up to one of the employees about it, but my dad stopped her.

"Don't be ridiculous. I doubt they would know about a train going to a magical school. They'll just think you're crazy." I personally had to agree with that.

But mom was officially freaking out. "Than what are we going to do!' She started pacing the gap between platforms 9 and 10, as if doing so would make it appear in front of her. I was starting to get embarrassed to be in her company. But a feeling that overlaid my embarrassment and that was nervousness. What if it really didn't exist, and it was all a joke? Or what if I missed the train?

I was starting to get really worried, and was giving up hope when a voice called out my name from behind me. "Oy, Chris!"

I turned around. Standing there was Mark, smiling at me. He was pushing a trolley filled with as much as much as the one my Dad was carrying, and wearing a collection of clothes that looked a little weird.

"I was wondering when I'd see you. And it looks like you need a bit of help." He pointed to my Mom, who looked extremely stressed.

"How could you tell?" I replied sarcastically. "Mom, calm down. It's alright. This is Mark, from Diagon Ally, remember." Mom looked at him.

"Oh yes, I remember. Hello Mark, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm good. Or at least better than you. Need help getting onto the platform?"

Mom was just about to reply (I bet it would have been on the lines of, 'Yes, this is so confusing. How can I ever thank you?') when dad looked around.

"Who's this?"

"Mark Weasley, at your service sir." Said Mark with a mock bow.

"Nice to meet you. I suppose you're a friend of Chris's."

"Indeed I am good Sir. I met this fair damsel in an enchanted street, which was nothing compared to her beauty," He looked like he was going to carry on, but I silenced him with a glare.

"Yes, he's a friend of mine. Now will you please tell us how to find the platform?"

"All in good time. First you have to meet my family." He pointed over his shoulder to a group of people, most of them with red hair.

He began to walk over to them, and we followed. As we drew nearer, a mad with bright red hair whose face was covered in freckles called. "Well there you are Mark! I was wondering where you had gotten off to."

"Hey Dad. This is that girl Chris I told you about."

"So you're the girl that my son told me so much about." He winked at her. "He says you liked our shop."

"Oh, I did! It was the coolest place I have ever been."

"Thanks. We started when my brother and I were just two innocent school lads, hoping to make a few Galleons with our Jokes. Speaking of which, here's my brother himself." And indeed a man who seemed to be an exact copy of his brother in every way was walking up. "Hey Fred, this is the girl Mark kept telling us about."

"Hey, I'm not Fred, you are. I'm George."

"Why, indeed you are. My bad." Mark rolled his eyes at them, as if he was used to this.

"So, that's my dad, and my uncle George. That's my Aunt-" He pointed to a kind looking lady with very bushy brown hair like brambles-" And that over there is my Uncle Harry." The man he was pointing to was a rather tall man with messy black hair, and very green eyes that reminded me of my own. "Harry Potter, that's him. Married my dad's sister." Mark seemed very proud of his uncle, as if he had just said that he was the king.

"Cool. Are they all here to say good bye to you?" I asked. He seemed to have a lot of family members.

Mark laughed. "Of course not. There here to let off my cousins. All three of them are in third year, and they've told me all about Hogwarts. I can't wait to go to all the secret places."

My Dad had been talking to Mark's dad, and George, when my mom looked down at her watch. "Oh, we've got to get you onto the train!" She said, beginning to panic. "How do we find that platform?"

George smiled. "It's easy. Watch." He walked up to the barrier between platform 9 and 10, and casually leaned against it. Then he was gone.

"What?" I exclaimed, amazed. A fully grown man had just disappeared into thin air.

"Cool, isn't it. You got to get used to magic if you want to be a which. Come on, its most fun if you run at it." I looked at my parents, who looked astonished as I had, but before I could say anything, Mark had grabbed my arm with one hand (the other was holding his cart, and began to pull me toward the barrier.

I really had no choice to run, but I felt so afraid. I just knew I was going to crash, that I would feel the very solid concrete of the barrier hit me, and pain would swell through my body…

But it never came. Amazed, I opened my eyes, and found myself on a bustling platform, filled with people in robes. Right in front of me was a old fashioned steam engine, painted bright red, with the word 'Hogwarts Express; written on it in bright gold letters.

"Amazing." I guess I should have expected that I wouldn't get hurt, after the second twin disappeared through it, and after the doorway to Diagon Alley opened. But my mind was not quite ready to start disregarding the laws of physics quite yet.

A few seconds later, my parents came in. Mark's dad was holding onto my mom, and my dad was looking as if he had never seen anything more amazing in his life (I don't think he had).

Of course, it was around then that the train made a loud hoot, and people began to scramble onto the train. Three kids came out of the throng. One of them had messy raven hair and large chocolate brown eyes ( I could tell it was Harry's son). Then a boy and a girl came following them. The boy had brown hair, and his face was covered in freckles. The girl had freckles, but a lot less, and fiery red hair. They looked a lot alike in face shape, and both had cinnamon brown eyes, so I could tell they were siblings.

They started to say hasty good byes to their parents, while I did the same to them.

"Remember, there's a sandwich in your backpack. You also have a juice box and a snicker bar, if you need something else."

"Okay, thanks mom." She enveloped me in a tight hug.

"Oh, I love you Sweetie. Make sure you right to me every week. And behave yourself, okay."

"Don't worry Mom, I will. I love you too."

Dad didn't hug me, but ruffled my hair (he always does, and it annoys me so!) "Goodbye my little enchantress. I know you'll be the best which ever. Even better than the sorceress from the Odyssey who turned men to pigs, or the White Witch." He called to me, as I boarded the train with Mark.

As I walked down the train, I felt a stab of sadness. I was going to miss my parents so much. They had taken me in, and cared for me like their own. 'Goodbye' I said to them in my head, as we stopped in front of the first empty cabin we had found. It was time for me to leave my old life behind.


	8. the train ride

Well, that cabin wasn't actually empty. It had one girl in there, who looked to be in the same year. She had very light blonde hair, and very large blue eyes, which were fixed on a magazine. When we opened the door, she looked up, and gave us a distracted smile.

"Oh, hello Mark."

"Hey." He answered, but not with much enthusiasm.

"You know each other?" I asked. I had forgotten that Mark would probably know tons of people already.

"Yeah. Her family visited my cousins a couple times. Her mom is an old friend of my family's from school."

"Oh, cool. I'm Chris." I held out my hand. She seemed like a nice girl, but for some reason Mark didn't seem to like her very much.

"Georgia. Nice to meet you." She smiled at me, and then dipped her head back into the magazine, which had moving pictures on the cover. Its title was 'The Quibbler', and looked a bit strange. Mark saw me gazing at it, and shook his head signaling not to mention it.

So the two of us brought are stuff into the compartments, and put them on the over head rack. Before I put Rusty's cage up though, I let him out. Rusty let out a yowl of approval to be out of the cage, and streaked out of my reach and sat next to Georgia as if she was afraid I'd to put him back in it.

Mark chuckled, and I shot him a glance. I was learning that Mark really could be annoying. But then, what do you expect from the son of a guy who runs a joke shop?

Once again Georgia looked up from her magazine to look at the cat that had settled down besides her. "That looks like a very smart cat."

I was about to say "Thanks," when Georgia continued.

"Be careful it might actually be a fuocgat."

I stared at her. "A what?" Mark faced palmed when I said this, and I got the impression I did the wrong thing.

"It's a very rare creature, made of fire. They are very intelligent, and are often considered relatives of kneasles. It tends to take the form of cats, and will then burn down their owners homes when they are sleeping." She survived Rusty and said. "He's the right color for one to."

Okay, I was pretty sure this girl was a bit weird. I could tell Mark thought so to. "Oh." Was all I could say. It didn't sound very realistic, but it might be true. I really don't know much about the magical world.

We kind of sat in silence for a few minutes, until it become apparent that Georgia had returned to the magazine, so I decided to start a conversation. "So, your family seems pretty cool. Especially your dad and Uncle George."

"Yeah, they are pretty great. I want to be just like them! They did some of the most amazing pranks in history."

"Really, like what?" I knew it was going to be good. Mark's dad and Uncle radiated mischief.

"Well, once they turned a whole corridor into a swamp! The also set a bunch of fireworks on this really mean teacher, and flew out of the school on their brooms which had been locked away by the very same person! They also managed filling the Slytherin common room with water from the lake, and turned Professor McGonagall's" (Mark later told me that she's the head Mistress) "air bright orange with purple poke-a-dots. And that's just a start."

I smiled. It looked as if the year would not be boring if Mark was going to try to live up to his dad.

We chatted for a while, and I learned a lot about the school. Like the fact there's a ghost girl that always cries in one of the bathrooms. And Mark told me about this one room that turns into whatever room you need!

But, it was making me a bit nervous too. He knew much compared to me, and I was pretty sure everyone else would too. What if I make some stupid mistake in front of the class like blow something up? I was starting to wish I had mom again to talk to me…

These thoughts kept stirring in my mind while I chatted with Mark. Georgia would occasionally raise her head and make weird comments. I'm pretty sure she's a bit insane, but she doesn't seem mean. In fact, she's really quite nice, just a bit blunt.

It was around 1:30 when I began to get hungry, and took out my lunch that mom had packed. It was a squashed peanut butter sandwich, a apple juice box and a slightly melted Snicker

"What's that?" asked Mark, staring at the chocolate morsel in plastic wrapping.

"It's a Snicker. It's a type of muggle candy." I stared down at it. I have never really liked Mars bar, I find them way to sweet. Carmel, sugar and peanuts!

"Could I try some?"

"Sure, I don't really like them." It was sort of amusing to watch Mark struggle to find out how to open it, but I eventually took sympathy with him and opened it for him. But I might just use it for black mail…

"Yum!" He said, pieced of milk chocolate and Carmel sticking to his teeth and spluttering saliva all over the cabin. "Uggle any es elly ood!" I could hardly make out what he was saying,, but I think it was 'Muggle candy is really good'.

A few specks of chocolate had landed on Georgia, so she looked up and commented, "That's disgusting, Mark."

I laughed. It really was gross, and I hope it doesn't always look like that when he eats. "It is gross. Can you just swallow already?"

Mark nodded and soon finished of the bar of chocolate, although his teeth still seemed pretty dirty. "Boy, I got to tell dad about those! I bet he could sell them in the shop- with a few additions." The smile on his face made me think that additions would not just be for flavor.

It wasn't much longer after the Snicker incident that a plump which came with a trolley, calling out if any one would buy food. Mark jumped right up, and Georgia followed him. I really wasn't sure if I should go. Mom had given me some of the leftover money from shopping in Diagon Alley, but I didn't think it was wise to spend it all on sweets my first day.

"You want anything?" Mark called from outside.

"Nah, I'm fine." I responded, feeling a bit downhearted. Even though I had the peanut butter sandwich, it really didn't look very appealing. Discouragingly I picked up my apple juice and stuck the straw in.

But I really didn't need to worry. Mark came back in caring as many sweets as he could, and they looked ten times more spectacular than any Snicker I had ever seen. The were wands made out of brightly colored liquorice, and tiny little pies, weird cardboard containers with labels like 'Bertie Bott's Every flavored Beans' And other interesting stuff. My mouth began watering just at the sight.

Georgia who had a good deal less ( only about three thing) stared at him in amazement, as if she had no idea how any body could be able to eat so much candy.

Mark winked at me. "Didn't think I would bring enough for both of us?" Quite honestly I think he had bought enough candy for ten of us, but I didn't say that.

"It must have cost a lot!" I said. I still don't know how much things in the wizarding world costs, but I knew that much candy would be pretty expensive.

"Don't worry about that. My family has a fair bit of money from the shop." I could have sworn I heard a small snort from Georgia when he said this.

I started to inspect the candies, and picked up something labeled 'Chocolate frog'. Now, I've always liked chocolate, but I tend to prefer it plain. And It seemed to me that this was a perfectly normal plain piece of chocolate in the shape of the frog, and there was nothing to worry about. Well, if there's one thing I'm learning it's that nothing is what it seems in the wizarding world.

I was holding the packet, and took of the lid. Next thing I know, something has jumped onto my face. It was cool, and brown and I started hoping up my face, and one of it's feet had hit my eye.

"AHHH! GET IT OFF! HELP!" It had started to climb into my hair, and it felt extremely bad.

Mark was absolutely useless in this situation. He just sat there laughing his but off while I tried to fling the chocolate amphibian off my head!

It was Georgia who took pity on me, and caught the stupid piece of candy (Although she was chuckling).

"Thanks." I said to her. She might be a bit weird, but she was pretty nice. "You're a lot kinder than SOME people".

That 'some person' was still rolling around in hysterics. "It's- just a- piece of –candy!" He stammered in-between breaths and laughter. "And- you were shout- and screaming – and- running around!"

"Yes, yes, it's funny to watch Chris get chased by evil frogs made from chocolate. Let's not care if she's scared out of her wits." You could pretty much feel the sarcasm dripping from my mouth.

"Don't be too hard him. You did look like an idiot.' said Georgia, fairly. And I guess it probably was, but it didn't make me feel any better.

"Look like an idiot?" I hit Mark. Hard.

"Why didn't you warn me about the candy?"

Mark was rubbing his head. "Ouch, you didn't need to hit so hard."

"Mark?"

"Well, first of all, they don't tend to attack people. Second," He grinned broadly, "You didn't ask."

Meanwhile, Georgia was bending down to pick up the empty chocolate frog wrapping (she had thrown the frog out the window). "Here." She said cheerfully, and pressed a card into my hand.

"What's this?" I asked her. It showed a sandy haired boy with a slight tan waving up at me.

"It's your famous which or wizard card. You get one in every pack." Mark explained to me.

"Yes." Agreed Georgia. " My mom's in their. She's famous for proving the existence of the Crumple Horned Snorklack." I decided not to ask. Fortunately Mark continued as if he had never been interrupted.

"You collect them. I've got a really big collection, but you should she Artemis's one, it's gigantic!"

"Cool. So it's like pokemon card or something?" He stared at me with a blank expression.

"Poke-what?"

I sighed. He may no a lot about the wizarding world, but he knew nothing about ours. "It's these weird monster things. You got cards and had battles with them- not real ones! They were really popular a while ago."

"Oh. Weird." Mark shoved another candy into my hand. "Come on, have a candy."

I sat eating a few more candies. I got this really tasty bean, which I think was chocolate cake. So I thought it would be safe to eat the other beans, and I got this really horrible one that made me feel like puking. After that I sticked to 'safe' candy.

I got some pretty cool cards. The first one was apparently a really famous Quidditch player by the name of Oliver Wood. Then I got this musician, an then this old guy with a weird name and a really long beard who did something with dragon's blood and once was Hogwarts Headmaster. They were really quite interesting, but then one showed up that really caught my eye.

"Mark! Your uncle Harry's on the card!" Staring up from me was a man who looked quite a bit younger than the one I had seen on the Platform. But he had the same messy jet black hair, and two bright emerald eyes which are so familiar, staring behind a pair of glasses. But there was once thing the card showed that I hadn't seen back at the station. And that was a thing scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt.

"What? Of course he is." said Mark looking surprised.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, for one thing he saved the entire wizarding world from You-Know-Who!" said Georgia, who had taken interest in the conversation.

"You mean Voldemort." Corrected Mark, and a shiver ran down Georgia spine.

"You shouldn't say his name!"

I looked around curiously. It seemed really weird that Georgia didn't want to say his name. Hagrid hadn't wanted to either.

"Why shouldn't he?" Georgia stared at me.

"Because he's only the most evil wizard in history!" she exclaimed.

"Well that's no reason not to say his name." Mark challenged her. "Harry says that fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself." I have to say that's the wisest thing I will probably ever hear him say.

Now, they were just about to break out into a heated discussion about weather or not it was okay to way Voldemort's (Poor sap. Who'd want a name like that? It sounds like a freaky anagram.) name when a announcement vibrated through the train.

"We shall be approaching the station soon. Please get into your school robes. Leave your items on the train; they shall be brought up to your rooms separately.

And with that Georgia and I pushed a protesting Mark out of the cabin so that we could change.


	9. the sorting

First off, I'd like to say that robes are really cool. I mean, it gives me this really cool look, as if I'm wearing stuff from a long time ago. They are also pretty comfy. The flow like a dress but are so much easier to move around in. I also like to think I look pretty cool in them.

But anyway, after all three of us had gotten into our robes, we began to get ready to get off the train. It was surprisingly hard to do. It was about a thousand kids trying to get off through a rather narrow corridor. I almost got crushed a couple of times, and was really relived to get out onto the station.

However, in the big rush, I had gotten separated to Georgia and Mark, and I was pretty lost. It had began to get dark out, and with every one wearing identical robes it was really hard to see. But fortunately there was something there to help lead me up to the school, and I just couldn't miss him. Twice as bog as the normal man, giant beard, booming voice (have you guessed who?) HAGRID!

"FIRS' YEARS TO ME!" he was calling, and a struggled to the pack to get to his giant figure.

"Hey Hagrid!" He looked down and smiled broadly.

"Hey Chris, you seem to have gotten here alright." He smiled and once again started to call all first years to him. I was sort of wondering why we were going with the other students (who seemed to be going the other way), but I just put it down to Hagrid having to lead us up to the school.

"Oi, Mark! Over here!" Hagrid was calling Marks name, and I was a little surprised that he knew him. After all, Mark doesn't live with muggles but there didn't seem to be any reason for Mark to know him.

Mark was currently walking out of the crowd (which had begun to thin a bit). "Hi Hagrid- hey Chris."

Hagrid beamed. "You to know each other already? Good to know you to are making friends. But it also looks as if I'm going to have a new generation o trouble makers on me hands."

Mark gave an innocent smile. "What, us? Of course not! I would never think of doing any pranks, jokes or other wise cause any other trouble at school!" I happened to notice that Mark had his fingers crossed behind his back.

Hagrid chuckled. "Whatever you say. Just remember I can always tell your family." He surveyed the group that had assembled around him. "Right, is that everyone? We'd better be on our way. Follow me."

The group followed in Hagrid's wake, with conversation buzzing around like bee's. We were all really excited to get a view of Hogwarts. I couldn't wait. I had been in a castle before, but that had been on holiday. And there's a big difference in an abandoned castle with a bunch of tourists walking around, and a giant magical castle with wizards and witches doing spells.

"So, you know Hagird." I wanted to start a conversation because I felt that if I didn't get mind distracted I would bust with anticipation.

"Yeah, he's a good family friend, especially with my Aunt and Uncles. Since we always hang around the same place during the holidays, we see him around when ever he comes to visit. Isn't that right Hagrid?" I hadn't noticed that he had been listening.

"Sure is. Always been good friends with his Uncles Harry and Ron, and his Aunt Hermione. Good friends with all the Weasleys fer that matter, even if Fred and Gorge we're to o the most troublesome students this schools ever seen." From what I had seen of them, I really didn't doubt that.

"We'll be nearing Hogwarts soon, just around the bend." Hagrid said. I got really excited. All my worries about school vanished. Soon I would be seeing one of the most magical building in the world.

We rounded a corner, and I saw on of the most magnificent sights ever. I giant stone castle perched on a hill, its turrets reaching into the inky night sky. Lights flickered in it, casting faint lights across the grounds. A moon hung in the air, making the castle seem to shimmer, its giant body reflected in a vast lake.

Wow, did I get descriptive there! I guess I really am paying attention in English. Of course, I will never have to study English ever again, because from now on, I'm going to be learning magic!

We approached the lake, and on top of its glassy surface were about twenty or so boats, each with its own lantern. They were paddle boats, and I really didn't feel like having to paddle across the large lake to school.

Hagrid told everyone that four people should get into a boat, and Mark and I got into the nearest one (I noted that he stayed far away from Georgia). He also made sure that we had another two people in our boat so that Hagrid could not come in. I was puzzled by this at first, until I realized that he alone took up most of the boat.

As we sailed (Or floated- the boats moved themselves) across the lake, a sense a calm came over us. I few people spoke, but it was mostly silent, as if the castles shadow had cast a spell on us.

Suddenly out of the water came a large red tentacle, right next to our boat. I jumped back, afraid. This thing was huge, about as big as the boat, and just one of its suckers was the size of my face! There was a monster in the lake, and it was right next to my boat.

It slowly reached up, and all four of us jumped back, the boat now teetering dangerously over the cool water.

"RELAX! It's just the giant squid! It's not going to hurt you!" Hagrid called across the water. I didn't think that I giant mollusk (At least I think that's what a squid is) reaching its tentacle into my boat.

"Yep, nothing to worry about. Only a giant monster living in the lake outside I'm going to live from now on." said a boy sarcastically. He was a thin boy with dark brown hair which was almost brown and grayish blue eyes. He had the air of a spoiled brat that thought he was better than everybody else. I had the sudden urge to stick out my tongue at him.

The tentacle prodded around the boat for a couple of minutes, floating with the boat. Then it descended into the water with barley a ripple as if it had never been there.

Mark laughed. "Dad told me about the giant squid. Isn't it awesome!"

The snobbish boy snorted. "I would guess someone like you would think so. Of course I, from a family of proper background knows better." I couldn't help it; I really did stick out my tongue.

"And who would you be?" Mark asked, scorn in his voice.

"I would be Ombre Malfoy, one of the few remaining pure blood families." I couldn't help but snort. What type of name was 'Ombre'? Wasn't it Spanish?

Malfoy saw my snort and looked at me harshly. "It means Shade for your information. And my name will always mean much more than yours. What are you, half blood? No, you look like Mudblood scum." Mudblood? Didn't this guy realize he was just sounding stupid?

But the others didn't think so. A chubby girl with brown hair in piggy tails winced, and Mark sculled. "You want to say that to me again Malfoy?"

"Why, yes. Your friend is a dirty Mudblood, with no chance of comparing to a person with family with me."

"Ha, she'll be twice the witch you'll ever be. And as for your family, my Uncle says your dad wasn't so cocky when he was being punished by Voldemort."

Malfoy drew his wand. "Don't you dare insult my father!" And just as he was saying a incantation that didn't sound quite so pleasant. But Mark was faster. He pulled out a dark black ball from his pocket, and tossed it at him. It exploded on him, throwing his wand from his hand, and catapulting 'Ombre' (-Laugh-) in to the water.

"MARK! You didn't need to blow him up."

"Oh, relax, it won't hurt him. Uncle Gorge made it so it gave you enough time to get to safety." And sure enough Malfoy was in the water treading water, spluttering.

"I'll get you Weasley!" He called, trying to keep up with the boat. He was begging to fall back, and Hagrid (Whose boat had moved to the front, and had noticed anything) had not gone to fetch him.

But then a large red tentacle stuck out of the water, scooped up the wet boy, and roughly through him back into the boat.

It was a pretty unremarkable ride from then on, although Malfoy kept making a few snide remarks. And even though Malfoy was sitting on the bottom of the boat shivering in soaking robes, I knew we had only won the battle, and that Malfoy would be back again.

Not long after, we were standing at the bottom of a large staircase, in the entrance hall of Hogwarts. Malfoy was standing at the back of the hall (his clothes dried of magically) saying that he was going to complain to his dad.

"Not that it will do much. The Malfoy name is mud with the Ministry ever since it was proved they had been helping Voldemort." Mark exclaimed loudly enough for him to hear.

I wasn't really listening though. A rather chubby wizard who had come to meet us had said that we were to be sorted in a few minutes, and it brought up a few questions. Just how were we going to be sorted? And I really didn't know much about the houses, except that Slytherins seemed to be evil.

"Mark, how do we get sorted?" I asked nervously.

"Don't know, nobody would tell me. But George kept hinting that it's some sort of test." I started to sweat. I had never been good at tests. One time, I had this math test and a got everything wrong. I kept trying to remember the spells I had read in my books, but they all slipped through my mind. I couldn't remember anything.

I guess Mark saw my nervous expression. "Don't worry Chris, it can't be too hard. Besides, my uncles none to joke."

I was just about to make a comment, but two large doors opened at that moment and the teacher who had been there before beckoned us into the room.

The sound of thousands of children echoed through the giant hall, and seemed to go louder as we entered. It was a sea of black cloaks, and I felt as if everyone's eyes were on me. Candle light cast shadows across the hall, although I didn't see where they were. Then I looked up and saw that hundreds of candles hung in the hair about a foot above my head. And then, above them were stars, and a large crescent moon. The hall had no roof!

I calmed my pounding heart, and noticed that I was walked between two of four long tables. At the very end of the hall was another one, with teachers lined on one side of it. Right in front of this was a stool, and sitting n it was a very old and dirty looking hat.

The group shuffled to a halt in front of the stool. A weird hushed silence fell across the hall, and I wondered if I was going to be told what we had to do. My heart was pounding, and we all stood quiet for a few moments when….

The hat opened its mouth. That's right, its mouth. There's no other way to describe it. And it then it began to _sing_.

HOh, many hundred years ago,

When I was newly sewn,

I sat upon the head of a daring man,

Who was brave to the bone

His name was Godric Gryffindor,

The first of Hogwarts founders four,

And one day he thought,

How will the school sort its students when we're no more?

So he sought the help of his collage Hufflepuff,

Who was hard working and faithful

She said, "Only one person could help us with this stuff."

So they set off to find old Slytherin,

With his ambition and cunning

He thought at last and said,

"Only Rowena will help keep this school running".

It was wise Ravenclaw they sought,

To find an answer to their dilemma

And with her knowledge she sat and thought

And at last an idea came,

And she pulled me of Godric's head!

"We'll put brains into this hat,

And it shall sort our student's where we once tread!"

So that is my great story,

Of how the founders made the sorting hat,

In all my glory!

So go and put me on your head,

And I will see where you should be,

Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor or Slytherin,

The founder's traits in your heads I'll see

So try me on,

I can't go wrong,

For only I know where you belong!

Okay, I figured out two things from this song. 1, hats do not have a very good voice, and 2, all I would have to do is put on the hat.

I was very relived, I listened as the man (who I discovered to be Professor Longbottom) said we had to put on the hat and go to one of our tables. But as he read through the list of names, I found myself getting more an more nervous.

I watched Georgia go up. The hat stood on her head for several minutes before it called out, "RAVENCLAW!"

Then it started to go through the 'Ps' and completely passed the 'Qs'. One boy in front of me (The girl who was on the boat) was sent to Hufflepuff. And finally Longbottom called out my name, and my heart began beating.

The walk to the stool seemed to take forever. Every step seemed to echo in the large hall. And I approached the stool, lifted the hat off, placed it on my head and sat down.

A voice filled my head. It was strange, because it felt like my own thoughts, except it seemed alien.

"Ahh, Christina. Welcome to Hogwarts. You are a strange one; I haven't seen one as hard as you for many years. You certainly seem to have ambition, and are witty. You're a good friend too, but I think your ambition highly surpasses that."

I gulped. I thought back to the song, "Old Slytherin, with his ambition and Cunning." Hadn't Mark said that almost all people in Slytherin became evil?

'Please, not Slytherin.' I thought as loud as I could. And then the hat gave out what sounded like a laugh.

"Ah, yes, you sound much like your father. He asked me the same thing."

'You know my father?' I was getting a bit annoyed. First the freaky wand seller, then an old hat. It seemed everyone knew who my parent were except me.

"Yes, I do. I can see all your thoughts, memories and knowledge, and therefore know things that even you don't. As for Olivanders, when you spend your whole life working with such magical components you become attuned to things others don't."

'Oh.'

"But where shall I put you? I always told your father he would do well in Slytherin, but he was determined. Yes, you have many of the same qualities as him. You also seem to have your mother's stubbornness. But like I said, Slytherin…"

'Not Slytherin.' I said more strongly, and the hat let out a sigh.

"Very well, I see there will be no moving you. GRYFFINDOR!"

Cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table, and I took the hat off my head. As I looked back at its graying frayed fabric it seemed impossible that it had really just spoken to me.

I approached the tables, people smiling. I saw Marks cousins wave to me, among lots of other people. I sat down on the bench, feeling relived that it was over. There's something just a little freaky about talking to a hat that is wiser than yourself.

I watched the rest of the sorting, starting to feel a little bored. After having done it yourself, it no longer seemed that interesting, and my stomach was telling me to get some food. But I paid attention when Mark went up.

He only had the hat on his head for a few seconds before it boomed out Gryffindor. The table cheered more loudly than I had heard them yet. It seemed as if Mark was quite well known as I kept hearing stuff like "WE GOT ANOTHER WEASLEY".

Just as Mark started to walk toward the table, something exploded with a loud 'pop!' in the air. Out of it came a lion which seemed to be made of bright red and gold fire. It roared and charged up in the air, contrasting with the dark sky, and then dissolved in a shower of spark.

The Gryffindors roared with delight, the Hufflepuffs, Raverclaws and some of the teachers joined in. It had been really cool, and looked very lifelike.

Mark approached the table grinning. I noticed that in his hand were some red balls.

"Mark?"

"What? Just a bit of house spirit. Besides, it's a great way to advertise the new animal fireworks." I just rolled my eyes. Hardly an hour into our first year and he was already using his tricks.

We bore through the rest of the sorting, and I was just starting to think that my stomach was going to drive me insane when it ended.

"Hello, and welcome again or for the first time to Hogwarts!" said a elderly looking witch in a throne like chair. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun, and she had eyes like a hawk which I had scene on my grade three teacher. She wouldn't miss a thing. I remembered that this was Professor McGonagall. "There is a lot to go over before we retire to our beds, but first I think we should start the feast. Enjoy your meal!

And amazingly, the bright golden plates lining the table filled with food, and I grabbed what I could. It was tasty, really tasty. I had never really thought that a school would have such excellent food to eat.

Marks cousins came over after they had enough time to get a good share of the food.

"Hey!" The black haired one said, followed by the other two. "Nice use of fireworks. Could you go and use one in our game against Slytherin?"

"Sure Sirius." He then realized that I was there. "This is Chris. Chris, this is Sirius Potter."

Sirius smiled. "Yeah, and these are the twins." He pointed to the other two who had came forward. They didn't really look like twins, just brother and sister.

"We're fraternal twins. I'm Jane and he's Jack- otherwise the annoyingly smart one."

"You're just jealous that I got Mom's brains."

I spent the rest of the dinner chatting with them. They were all in third year. Jane and Sirius were on the Quidditch team, and were apparently pretty good at it. Especially Sirius who apparently took after his dad. They explained the game to me at great length when they realized I didn't understand it.

And then dessert arrived, and was it a sight! Mountains of different flavored ice cream, pies, tarts, candies, you name it! By the end of it I was feeling especially full and sleepy, and only half listened to the announcements.

I then vaguely remember walking through the maze of stars and corridors, and wondering slightly how I would remember how to walk through there. Then I climbed through a hole behind a picture into a large red living room, and climbed up the stair case into my dorm. I put on my PJ's, climbed into the four poster (that right, four) and pulled the coaster. It sure didn't take me long to fall into a nice long sleep.


	10. the first day

**Hey, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed. It really made my day. As for all your questions, they shall be answered in the later chapters….**

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When I first woke up, I was just a bit confused, because I was surrounded by a sea of red. It was only until a few seconds later that I remembered where I was, and I sat up.

I pulled back the curtains and found myself in a circular dorm room which I hadn't been able to get a good look at the night before. There were five beds in the room, including my own. One of them didn't look like it had been slept in, but all others had the curtains closed.

I got up and stretched. It had been one of those really good sleeps, the ones where you don't wake up once and have nice dreams even if you can't remember them. The beds are pretty comfy too.

I walked around the other side of my bed, and smiled when I saw my luggage. I guess it must have been brought up. I was just about to go and take out my clothes when I heard something like hissing. I pulled away my biggest suitcase, and behind it was a very annoyed looking Rusty, still in his cage.

"Oops." I whispered, and opened the door to it. Rusty spat at me, and then bolted to the door, going to do cat stuff, I guess.

I sighed and started to unpack. Then I stopped because I was bored, and I was afraid I would wake up the other people in the dorm. So I pulled out on of my cloaks and put it on. Once again it felt really cool to be wearing it. Best uniform ever.

Just as I was pulling my socks on, one of the curtains on the other side opened to show a tired looking face. The girl had cropped brown hair, and black eyes peeking from behind drooping eyelids.

"Morninggggg." She yawned at the last part. "How can you already be dressed?"

"I'm just a morning person I guess." It was true. When I was younger I could never sleep in past 6. Now I can go a little later, but I have always been fine waking up early. "My names Chris. What's yours?"

"Alexandra, but call me anything but Alex and I will hex you." She stumbled out of bed. She had what looked like broom sticks all over her pajamas, so I could tell she was a tom boy.

After this, it wasn't long until every one else in the room was up. There was one girl called Claire with long golden hair, who was a half blood. The other girl was named Jennifer who was muggle born (the proper name for some one who has none magical parents). She had really curly hair, and looked a bit like a bush when she got out of bed.

They all seem pretty nice, although Claire is just a bit too girlish. She was taking ages to get ready, so the rest of us just left her so we could go down to breakfast.

I met Mark down in the common room. He was waiting for me.

"You didn't need to wait." I told him, and he grinned sheepishly.

"It's just I sorta forgot how to get to the great hall, and Jane, Jack and Sirius already left." I rolled my eyes.

"Are you two coming?" called Alex, who was standing right by the portrait hole, Jenny already through it.

"Coming!" I called, and pulled Mark.

Walking through the halls of Hogwarts was a very interesting thing. First of all, it feels as If you've been transported back to the middle ages. Also, they walls are lined with pictures. Usually this wouldn't interest me, as I have always found art a bit boring. But when the pictures are moving an talking to me, it amazingly is way cooler.

I was so interested in the portraits that I started to slow down, and stop paying attention. I was looking at a very funny picture of dos doing the ballet when I suddenly found myself unable to walk. I looked down, and saw my foot stuck in one of the stairs.

"Uh, GUYS!" I called. Here's a note. Always look out for booby traps in an enchanted castle.

Unfortunately, they still hadn't heard me. So I called again, as I struggled to get out. It was getting a bit uncomfortable to have one of my feet stuck in the stair.

Finally, they heard me, and came back to help me out of it. They needed to pull quite hard to get me out.

We almost got lost twice trying to get to the great hall, but we got there eventually. By that time we were all hungry, and I couldn't wait to eat breakfast. So I went and got some bacon, pumpkin juice and a piece of toast and tucked in.

I was just eating my third piece of bacon, when I jumped back in shock. A head had just came through my plate! It was silvery white and see through and smiling at me kindly.

"Sorry to scare you. My name is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, your residential Gryffindor ghost. I stopped by to have a look at the new students." I blinked, still goggling at the name. How was I supposed to remember that?

"Can I just call you Nick?" I asked feebly. School was getting weirder and weirder.

Nick laughed. "Yes, that's what everybody calls me. That, or other extremely annoying names." I decided I wouldn't ask what those names were, until a boy several years older than me, walked past and said, "Hey, Nearly-Headless Nick!"

Nick was scowling slightly, at the use of this. But I was intrigued. "Um, please, how can you be nearly headless?"

"Simple." And then he pulled his head to the side, showing the inside of a very gross looking neck covered in silver blood. I kinda lost my appetite there.

"Oh." What else was I supposed to say? I decided it would be a good time to change the subject. "I'm Christina Robinson. And this is Mark-" I pointed under the table where he was currently scrabbling around for his fork which he had dropped when Nick came to visit.

"Ah, yes, another Weasley. I have met a good-"He started counting, "ten of them, I believe."

"Ten! How many family members do you have?" I asked Mark amazed as he popped up from under the table.

"Huh, what? Oh Well, I got my grandparents, and they had seven kids, and then a few of them had kids…"

"Had? What do you mean?" A dark look clouded across his face.

"Well, one of them died. His name was Bill. He was killed by Voldemort's supporters. He died before his child was born." I bit my lip. I had heard the name Voldemort, and knew that everyone was afraid of him. But I hadn't actually realized that he actually killed people.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It was before I was even born. Besides, I've met his daughter. She goes to Beubaxtons- another magic school."

I looked up, and noticed that Nick had drifted away. Still not very hungry, and a bit put off about the not so pleasant subject we had been discussing, I looked up, and once again saw the sky.

"Hey, why doesn't the great hall have a roof?" I asked idly. It was a bit strange to be surrounded by walls, and then not have anything above me.

"It does. It's just charmed to look like the sky." I thought that was pretty cool, but Mark said it in such an offhanded sort of way. I guess growing up with magic makes things like charmed roofs not seem that amazing.

I was still staring as the slightly cloudy sky seen through the magical roof, when a hundred birds came sweeping in through open windows. It took me by surprise, it must admit. Especially when they started descending on the tables. One even landed right in front of Mark and Alex.

"Cool, it's some prank stuff from dad, as congratulations for getting into Gryffindor!" And true enough, he had a bunch of candies and other weird gizmos which I felt sure would soon be reeking havoc on the school.

Alex had been sent a bunch of her school books(which had made her owl pretty tired). "Dang! I had been hoping to get out of work for a few days." She said glumly while looking at the text books.

It was just after the owls had flown away, when Professor Longbottom came down our table, handing out timetables.

"Ugh, first lesson potions, with the Slytherins." Mark seemed to really hate this. When I asked why, he said. "Well, its Slytherins isn't it. Plus, ever since I had a rather bad experience with a cauldron, I never really like potions."

We had another three subjects that day. Transfiguration, herbolgy and history of Magic. The last one was the one that Alex seemed to be upset about. "History of Magic, last thing on a Monday! Why do you torture me!" She began to beg to the sky.

"Um, what's so bad about History of Magic." I personally have always really liked history, and I ws sure Magic History would be way more history than reading about World Wars and the Native Americans.

"It's the teacher. I've heard all about him. All he ever does is drone on, and on, and on! It's meant to be the most boring class in all of Hogwarts." I really doubted it could be so boring, so I just shrugged.

I looked down at my watch. It was now 8:20. "Shouldn't we be getting to class?" I asked.

"Yeah we should." Mark agreed.

"So, anyone know where the potions room is?"

"Ahhh…."

"I think it's in the dungeons somewhere." Alex said.

"See, it proves my point. Only potions would be in the dungeons!" Mark exclaimed, but we ignored him.

"I guess we better get going." And we headed off through the large doors, ready for our first class.

Okay, you want a tip? Don't go into the Hogwarts dungeons with out any knowledge of where you are going. We only got there because we met a nice ghost after having been lost for fifteen minutes. We were five minutes late for our first class, and I was just a bit tired from carrying my cauldron around.

The three of us came into the dungeons at a run, desperately trying to shorten how late we were. And there was the teacher explaining about potions when we came bursting in.

The teacher was very old, with very little hair (but what he did have was white). He was pretty fat, and on the desk he had a box of crystallized pineapple. He looked at us sternly as we came in.

"Ahh, I see my last three students have arrived. May I please ask where you have been?" A few of the Slytherins in the room snickered.

"Sorry Professor. We got lost." I explained, and the teacher turned his attention to me. He was looking at me in a peculiar way, which made me feel a little nervous.

"I see. Well that's understandable; Hogwarts is a bit of a maze when you first get here. So I'll let you off this time, but don't let it happen again." We nodded, and went to the only remaining free table, and settled down as the teacher continued talking about safety procedures in potions, and the basic ingredients.

"Now, I'm putting a very simple potion up on the board, and we will see how you do. You have one hour. Begin." As I got out my ingredients, I asked Mark exactly who the teacher was.

"I think its Slughelp or something. He's a really old teacher, and is head of Slytherin house."

After that, I pretty much concentrated on my potions. It was too hard, especially the cutting and stirring. It reminded me a bit of cooking. But it was pretty specific. We had to brew the potion for exactly one minute, and give three counter clockwise turns for every 1 clockwise one. Altogether, it was way more fiddly than cooking. But I got through with it okay, and I was feeling pretty good with myself as Slughorn came by to check.

He nodded at Alex's, and gave a slight grimace at Marks. Mark had went a bit nervous in the middle of the lesson, and had started to mess things up. Now instead of the light pink shade it was meant to be, and had turned a rather bright red like fresh blood. I think I may have to work with Mark on this phobia of potions, because if I don't I'm not sure how I'll survive with the smell of rotten eggs every potions class…

When he came to mine, he smiled approvingly. "Quite good for a beginner, but a bit too thick." Then his eyes trailed from the potion to me again, and began staring at me. It made me nervous, and I squirmed slightly under his gaze.

"Uh, Professor?" I asked, after he had stared at me for about five seconds.

"Oh, sorry- Miss Robinson, is it? You just look very much like a student I once had." And with that he moved on, but I saw him pass a glance in my direction again.

We packed up after that, and moved onto our next class. Transfiguration was quite hard, and turned out to be quite a bit of a let down. We had a young man for a teacher, who although seemed pretty good at it, was a bit boring. It also turned out we wouldn't be doing any of the good stuff for a while, and we spent the lesson trying to turn matches into needles. Why would we ever need to turn a matchstick into a needle anyway?

Nothing really interesting happened in that lesson, because nobody could do it. Although, one Hufflepuff boy did manage to set fire to his match and desk, which was slightly entertaining until the teacher put it out…

Herbolgy was okay, but it reminded me a bit of the orphanage. We had a little garden in the back of it, and I once had to go out there and work. It was really boring, and someone accidentally stabbed me with a rake, and ever since then I have never really like gardening. Although I think it's a bit more interesting when the plants try to run away.

We'll skip lunch because nothing really interesting happened there. But compared to History of Magic, it was exciting as being on a roller coaster. Mr. Binns is a ghost, but that doesn't mean his lesson is exciting. In fact, he has one of those droning voices that just recedes into the background. By the end of the class I had fallen asleep and was having a very weird dream about riding the giant squid of Hogwarts.

So that was my first day of classes, and I'll tell you this. It was a bit cooler than English and Math's, but there is one thing that will always be exactly as boring. Homework. Excuse me, I have to start an essay on the uses of Unicorn hair, and a detailed sketch of dancing bushes.


	11. the flying lesson

**Short chapter, I know, sorry. Don't worry; a longer one is coming up******

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Life at Hogwarts is very interesting. First of all, classes are a lot cooler than what I studied back in primary school. Although I had a good bit of homework (which is still boring) the classes themselves are fun, and most of them are practical.

But my favorite class (and most other peoples) is Defense against the Dark Arts. Every week were learning about new spells and trying them out. There is always practical demonstrations on a weird assortment of creatures, and sometime (if it's safe enough) on class mates. But the best part of it is our teacher, Professor Lupin. Mark says that he's really a werewolf, and that's why he's so good at teaching the subject, but I'm not sure if I believe him.

But none the less, Mark sure seems to know him well. In out first class, he said "Hi Uncle Remus- I mean Professor." Mark says he's a good family friend, and since he's known him since he was real small, he's always been told to call him Uncle, even though he really isn't.

But Professor Lupin's classes are great fun. Lupin himself is really friendly and fun, and always nice to us. With him for a teacher I've done a lot better than in most of my other classes, and I'm able to do most of the spells before the rest of the class. (This annoys Mark and Georgia- She's really good at spells, but I always top her).

I had been in the school for about two weeks, and was just finishing a piece of homework for DADA, when I noticed a bunch of people hovering in front of the notice board in the common room. I finished it off, and went to see what all the fuss was about.

After squeezing through the group of first years (and a few older students) I got a look at the sheet posted. It said "Flying Lessons, next Wednesday- Gryffindor and Hufflepuff".

A mingling feeling of excitement and a bit of fear rose through me. I had heard a lot about brooms and Quidditch. It was really popular from people of all years, both boys and girls. It was one of the most commonly talked about subjects, ranging from broom types, weird stories and boasts about amazing scores on the pitch. Me and Jenny were starting to feel like we were the only kids who hadn't been on a broomstick and were a bit left out.

Of course, I was a bit nervous too. I've never exactly been afraid of heights, but I'm not fond of them either. Also, I couldn't help but think that brooms can't fly. I know that after knowing about the wizarding world for about two months I shouldn't think that, but I was raised learning that if there's one thing brooms don't do, its fly.

But, on Wednesday, I walked out onto the pitch with everyone else, my heart beating slightly. I lined up behind my broom, and paid close attention to the teacher (an slightly aging lady with extremely sharp eagle like eyes) to the information.

I looked doubtfully down at the brooms. They didn't look very sturdy, or comfortable. Of course, I had been told that all brooms had a comfort charm put on them, but it still didn't make me feel any better.

But as I put forward my hand, a weird feeling of calm swept through me. "Up." I said commanding, and amazingly, the broom jumped right into my open palm! I had done it, and on my first try too! I rocked.

Around me, a few people were struggling. Mark, Alex, and a few other Quidditch lovers had gotten an almost immediate reaction, but a most of the group were having trouble. This was especially true for a rather thin and gangly Hufflepuff boy with straw like hair. The broom hadn't made any move for five minute, until it decided to hit him in the head.

As Madame Hooch came down the line correcting grips and so forth, the boy was having even more trouble. He had finally manages to get the broom into his grip, but it kept vibrating a lot, making it hard to hold onto. It reminded me a bit of this horse I had seen on a movie once. It had been a really wild horse that no one could tame, until came a young girl who made him her own. Somehow, I didn't think any taming would be going on here.

My broom however was hovering the air by my side like a well behaved dog. When Madame Hooch showed me exactly how to hold it, it felt perfectly right.

Then came the time to actually ride the broom. So we all mounted them, and the teacher blew the whistle, and we all started to rise into the air.

It was a wonderful sensation. I felt the world drop from under my feet, and the wind to rustle my hair. And it was easy too. I don't know why I had been afraid. For some reason, being off the ground didn't seem as scary when on a broom.

Almost without thinking, I started to do some loop-de-loops. It was great fun, even better than a roller coaster. Of course, Madame Hooch being the teacher that she is, told me to stop, and pay attention.

Mark just came and floated next to me, a look of amazement on his face. "How did you do that? You said you had never been on a broom before."

"I haven't. It just really easy."

"But, the only person I've seen fly that fell is Sirius! And he practically grew up on a br-"

It was at this point that Madame Hooch told us to pay attention, which we did. Although Mark looked as if he would like to continue the conversation.

So I paid attention to what she was saying, but soon got pretty bored. For some reason I seemed to already know everything she was saying, as if I had already learned it. I guess it must be one of the natural instincts of something.

But, I was really happy when she told us to go and practice speeding up and turning. I burst off almost immediately, feeling perfectly at home on the broomstick. I started to speed around with all the other people who already knew how to fly. I noted that Jenny was watching enviously.

It was about five minutes into this practice time that something interesting happened. Madame Hooch was way up high, helping someone who had lost control of her broom. Meanwhile, a bit closer to the ground, that Hufflepuff boy from earlier also last control. He started speeding up, and headed strait for a tree. He forced himself upwards, stopping himself from hitting the green trap of terror, but panicked as he did so. He let go of his broom and started plummeting to the Earth.

Madame Hooch, who had not heard the racket until now (being busy, and I think her hearing might be going) stared, and headed into a dive. But I could tell that she wasn't going to make it. So I did the only thing I could. I descended into my first dive.

I picked up speed quickly, and soon the wind had blocked out all other sounds. I was heading strait for the boy, almost at a complete plummet. And then, I don't even know how I did it, I broke out of the dive, and stuck out my hand to catch his arm.

I jolted down for a second, out of momentum from the boys fall, and still feeling a bit dizzy from the dive. (Don't ever do a near vertical dive on your first flight on a broom.) But I managed to hold on to him, but he still felt really heavy. I tried to pull him onto my broom, but I was having a bit f trouble controlling my broom with one hand, so he stayed where he was, making my arm feel like it was going to fall off.

Thankfully, Madame Hooch got down at that moment, and took the boy off my hands. I went back down to the ground, wanting to make sure that the boy was alright.

He was, although a bit shocked. But, could you blame him? He had almost crashed into a tree, fallen off a flying broom, and nearly hit the ground.

"Thanks." He told me shakily. I felt a bit of pride. My first time on a broom, and I had saved a guy from a fall. Who's awesome? ME!

"No prob. Just, watch out for the tress next time." He let out a little laugh.

Madame Hooch was a bit mad at me for trying something so risky. She started giving me a lecture about 'breaking school rule', 'potentially harming myself' and being 'reckless'. At the same time she was thankful for catching Kevin (that's what his name is- he told me after) and a bit awed at my flying skills.

That night, the story seemed to have spread about the interesting flying class. It's a bit freaky how quickly news spreads at Hogwarts- it was dinner right after the class, and every one already seemed to know.

But everyone was interested in my story. Soon wild rumors were flying around about how I made a 60 foot dive and navigated through a flock of birds to save Kevin. Sirius even told me that he wished that I ws old enough for the Quidditch team, and said he would go and ask Professor Longbottom if they could make an excuse for me. So all in all, I don't really think I had that bad a first flying lesson.


	12. Prats and Pranks

**Once again, thanks for all the reviews. But just so you know, I'm going on holiday, so I might be a bit slow with updates.**

It was Wednesday evening, and I was playing a real upbeat game of exploding snap with Alex and Jenny. I like the wizarding version of Snap way better, because it adds a great new element to the game. And besides, the burns are only minor.

But as we were just going through a great run, the portrait hole burst open, a ring of laughter went through the common room. I didn't look up as I was too determined to win (and not get burned) but Ales did.

"Are you okay Mark? You look a bit green." She said sarcastically, and I looked up.

Mark did look green. Very green. All his skin had turned a brilliant shade of green the exact same shade as the Slytherin snake. And his hair also happened to be bright, neon orange, making the skin look even worse. I tried to hold back a laugh, but it was just too funny. I sort of wish I had had a camera with me then.

"Not funny." He said grumpily as he sat down next to us. Jenny, who lost concentration when he saw Mark was burned by the magical card game.

"What happened?" I was still a bit giggly. Its not every day that you see a boy wearing neon orange, unless their a construction worker.

"That stupid git Malfoy happened. He's still sore from when I through him into the water."

"Apparently."

"So, let me get this straight. Malfoy attacked you, and turned your skin green and your hair orange." said Jenny, nursing her burnt fingers.

"Well, it wasn't Malfoy exactly. He got a few of his family 'friends' from the older years to ambush me. But I know Malfoy arranged it." Suddenly a determined look crossed his face. "And let the world know, I SHALL GET MY REVENGE!"

We stared at Mark as he marched off to his dormitory. I was pretty sure he had finally cracked. Or maybe those Slytherin thugs had hit him with something to make him go crazy.

Over the next day, Mark made no mention of 'getting revenge'. But I could tell he was planning for something. He had that look in his eyes. I had seen him get that look no less than- let's see- 11 since I had arrived at school. The last time he had that look in his eyes, we had arrived down to breakfast to find our food hovering five meters off the ground.

Of course, I was just trying to ignore it. I was hoping he'd just forget about it, even though I knew it wouldn't happen. Still, I was taken by surprise that night.

I was practicing this spell for charms. I was having a good deal of trouble with it. So there I sat, on the couch leaning forward, and staring intently at a feather.

"**Wingardium Leviosa**!" I cried. And my feather slowly raised into the air and then fell back down again. That stupid feather just wouldn't stay in the air, and I felt like I was going mad!

It was then when I saw Mark standing at the stairway, and motioned for me to join him. I left the feather happily- I was pretty sure it was just trying to annoy me. "Yeah?"

"Chris, I need your help." I was a bit nervous on exactly 'help' meant. If it was tasting this 'delicious candy' like last time, defiantly no helping.

"With what?"

"With pranking the Slytherins, what else?"

"You're going to the prank the Slytherins? Why would you need my help with that?" Mark had shown to be perfectly adapt at doing pranks.

"Because you're the only person who is good enough at spells like what I need. And because you're my friend."

"I don't know Mark…"

"Pwease?" Mark began to do the dreaded puppy dog face. Not the puppy dog face! It burns, it burns! I had to give in. The big eyes, the cute pout.

"Fine. What do I have to do?"

"All you have to do is sneak into the Slytherin common room with me, and do a tiny little spell." When I grow up, I'm going to invent a cure for the puppy dog face.

"Sneak into the Slytherin common room? You're bloody mad! You don't even know where it is!" Mark gave me a superior little smile.

"Ah, but I do. And to help us, were going to use the ultimate Hogwarts pranking tool."

"And what would this 'Ultimate Pranking Tool' be, may I ask?" Mark nodded, dramatically reached into his cloak, and pulled out…

"A piece of paper?" That's right, a piece of paper. It wasn't even a clean piece of paper. It was torn in the edges, looked like it had been folded tons of times, and was starting to turn a little yellow.

"It's not just any piece of paper." He looked around, and pulled me into his dorm, and closed the door. "What I'm about to show you, you must promise not to talk about with anybody not in the family." I rolled my eyes. This was starting to look like some joke, but I agreed.

"Okay, here it goes. _I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."_ I couldn't help but stare at the piece of paper as he said that. And then, as he touched his wand to it, ink seemed to spread. It began to make a detailed picture, and I leaned in to see it. It was an incredibility detailed map of what seemed to be Hogwarts. I could see the lake, and the Great Hall. Everything was labeled in tiny green writing, even the people- and the people were moving! At the very top of the map was a title 'Messer's Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, proudly present the Marauder's Map'.

"Mark, where did you get this?" I asked astounded.

"Borrowed it from Sirius. It's a family relic. Made by Harry's grandpa. There's a whole story to this map. But the most important thing is that it shows every part of Hogwarts, including the Slytherin common room." I could see where this was going.

It was 12 hundred hours on the day of the 31st of October. Agents Ultimate Prankster and Orphan Girl were positioned two hallways down from the target area, behind the statue of the hag. Agent Quidditch Lover was primed and ready six hallways down in the opposite direction. Count down to the operation was in five minutes.

Sorry about that, I always wanted to talk like a secret agent. So in case you didn't understand any of what I had just said, this is the translation. It was 12 o'clock on the 31st of October- in other words Halloween. In the magical world, Halloween is a big holiday, so the whole school was pretty excited. It was also the perfect day to put our plan in motion. It was a Hogsmede weekend, so almost all students in their third year or higher would most likely be at the village. It was also lunch time, which would probably mean that anyone who was too young, or couldn't be bothered to go would be eating lunch. But if anyone was still in the common room, Alex was ready with a distraction (she had readily agreed to help us).

Now, Mark had really out down himself with this prank. He had gotten a few people to help make it seem as if there was no way that we could have been present to do the prank. Why? Because according to Georgia I would be up in the library studying. Kevin also would have conveniently gone for a stroll past the empty Quidditch pitch and have seen mark having a bit of joy flying. It helps to have friends.

So the two of us sat waiting for the signal. And, then it hit. A giant boom. Alex had just lit an entire box of three types of fire works- Weasley Wizard Wheezes extreme fire works, A few of Fred and Georges first creations, and a few muggle ones that made a really big boom when lit. It wasn't long until what looked like everyone in the common room came streaming out from the hidden entrance. The two of us sneaked in (we had learned the password by a little watching of the hole).

The place was really dreary, and I could not see how anybody could relax in the place. The walls were a bland grey stone, and all the furniture was an acid green. And all the torches were held up by chain! It felt like a dungeon. Give me the nice warm Gryffindor common room any day. But we had a job to do.

I whipped out my wand, and did the spell. Mark had gotten it from his Aunt Hermione's book about enchanted fires. He didn't think he would be good enough to do the spell, so he asked me to learn it. What does it do? Well, it make what looks like a perfectly normal fire, except instead of warming up, it slowly cools down until it makes the room bitterly cold. And because it's delayed reaction, it's great for get a ways.

Mark was currently booby trapping the room. It was just one of his Uncle and Dad's inventions. They made extremely annoying noises that no one could identify, or figure out where it came from. It would drive those Slytherins insane. Of course, he had something special for that little prat Malfoy. He didn't tell me what it was, but said it would be worth it. We were hardly in there for five minutes, and we were sure no one saw us. We quickly headed out to the places that we reportably 'were', and got ready.

It seemed all had gone well. Until after the feast. We were just getting ready to go back to the common room for a bit of smuggled butter beer and the partying that always goes on after the feasts, when we heard professor Longbottom calling for us. He looked a bit mad (but not much. I think he hates the Slytherins as much as we do.) He made us follow him to Professor Slughorn. And standing next to him was what looked like a 7th year.

"Now, Mr. Sotts tells us that he saw you two exciting the Slytherin common room today, at about twelve. Is that true?" Asked Longbottom sternly. I tried to keep an innocent face, even though my palms were sweating. My first big prank, and I had blown it.

"But Sir," Mark said, sounding like complete innocence. "How could we have sneaked out of the Slytherin common room? I was practicing Quidditch at around twelve." I knew it was my queue.

"And I was doing my Herbolgy homework in the library." I made up. Seeing as Longbottom was the herbolgy teacher, I was hoping to sweeten him a bit.

"I suppose you two have witnesses to confirm this statement?" asked Slughorn. He was piercing me with that stare- the one that he sometimes looks at me with. It's really freaky.

"Er, yes. I was studying with my friend Georgia in Ravenclaw." I said, thankful for the excuse. "Really?" Said Slughorn, raising his eyebrows.

"I find that very hard to believe as, I pulled Miss. Herjebacka into my office around that time for a spot of tea. She is such a smart student, and her mother did prove the existence of the Crumple- horned Snorklak." I gulped. We hadn't counted on that. We also hadn't counted on Georgia being pulled in to have tea with a teacher. Neither of us had anything to say, so the teachers saw that as a sign that we were lying. Why are teachers so good at that?

So we were given a detention on Monday night, and had 50 points taken away from Gryffindor. It turned out that it was Mark's fault that we had been spotted. He- the guy with the map- had hesitated at the entrance to drop one of his little tricks. He also hadn't bothered to look at the map to see if anyone was coming. See, all Mark's fault. Remind me never to go along with one of his insane plans again.

Of course, the sight of the Slytherins the next morning was enough to soften me. They looked as if they hadn't slept a wind, with large bags under their eyes ( I heard them complaining of those annoying 'sounds'). They were also shivering a lot, complaining about how cold it was in the dungeon, and that they had woken up with icicles on their noses. And the best part was, nobody connected it with us. And by the time they started to investigate the common room with snow falling from the roof and the very noisy colony of rats, all the annoyances had mysteriously disappeared. How strange ;)

But the grand finale was Mark's secret prank. Malfoy walked into the great Hall looking like all the other Slytherins. But as soon as he sat on the bench, he found himself in a pink tutu, and singing 'I'm a Little Tea Pot'. The entire hall broke out in laughter, and it took a good five minutes of charms work to get Malfoy to stop singing. But once he did, he shot a glare in our direction, as if he knew we had done it. And in that grey glare, one message was conveyed. It was on.

That Monday, I walked down to the dungeons at 8. Slughorn had assigned the punishment, even though he wasn't out head of house. It was because, and I quote "Not a normal offence, but breaking and entering another common room." I don't know what it is, but I just find that phrase a bit weird. Mark was still upstairs finishing his homework. He had left it until the last minute, even though every other person in the year had finished it ages ago. Do think he will be able to finish the three rolls of parchment long essay about the methods and rules of transfiguration in a space of 45 minutes? Me neither.

So I had gone ahead early to cover for that lazy poke. But as I approached the room I was to have my detention in, I heard what sounded like a overly loud debate. I looked through the hole in the door. It was Slughorn and McGonagall. I thought this was a bit weird, because I didn't see McGonagall very much besides meals. So I decided to 'overhear' their conversation.

"Minerva, I just can't do this anymore! I'm an old man, and I can't deal with a bunch of 11 year olds causing mayhem were ever I look!"

"You were perfectly happy to take the job when Dumbledore asked." pointed out the Headmistress.

"But you know very well that the circumstances were different then. With the war and Harry…"

"But yet you did not quit at the beginning of the year." "That was before I knew that I would be teaching an exact replica of Lily Evens! You've seen the Miss. Robinson! It freaks me out, and now I have to sit through a detention with her."

"I understand that, but you must remember. As much as she looks like Lily, she is not. Please don't let one student force you to retire, at least not to the end of the year." I heard a sigh.

"Fine, but I don't want to. And I deserve a pay raise; dealing with these maniacs you call children. Braking into a common room…." And then I heard the footsteps heading towards the door, I jumped back quickly, and tried to make it look as if I had just walked down the hallway.

The teachers were a bit surprised to see me there. They had the look on their face that people get when they've been talking about you behind your backs. But I acted as if I suspected nothing.

But I couldn't help but wonder about the conversation. So when Slughorn left the room saying he would be back in fifteen minutes, I leaned over Mark (who had arrived about five minutes late). "Hey Mark, do you know who Lily Evens is?" Mark looked a bit surprised by the question.

"Yeah. why?'

"Oh. I just heard the name, and wanted to know about it." I didn't know why I was lying to Mark. But all I knew was the answer could be important.

"Oh. Well, Lily Evens was Harry's mom. But she was killed by Voldemort." Harry's mom? Slughorn said that I looked a lot like Lily Evens. That explained why he kept looking at me as if I was a ghost- er well, another thing from beyond the grave that he doesn't see every day.

But for some reason, I felt there was something really important in the fact. And I will find out what that is.

Just so you know, Herjebacka is a Swedish last name. My backing for this was Luna went and married some Swedish guy on that expedition to find the crumple horned Snorklaks.


	13. discoveries

Hey-ouch. Ugh- ouch, those that ever hurt-Ouch- hurt. I bet your-oooh- wondering-ouch- what I'm doing. Well-eeeck- I would be pulling venomous-ouch- spines from my armMMMMMS! Whew, last one. I got a bunch of them stuck in my arms during herbolgy. Good tip: always pay attention when handling plants with large spines that can be flung at you. Don't worry, I'm not too badly hurt. Madame Pomfry came me so cream to get rid of irritation and swelling. But for some reason that I don't really understand, I had to pull out those bloody spines myself. Anyway, I have to stay over night in the Hospital wing. I don't really mind, it will give me some time to think. I've been doing a lot of that since I overheard that conversation. I can't stop wondering about it. That was what I was thinking about during class, when I was meant to be watching the moving plant with large red spines. So what exactly am I thinking about? It's my parents. I know something's up. I've heard to people (or in the hats case- thing) talk about my dad. They know who he is, but they won't tell me. Olivander even said that I had to work it out for myself, so that's what I'm doing. I don't know much, not even what my dad looked like. So I don't think I can work from that angle until I have more information. So I've been working on the tiniest little clue, one so small it probably has no significance. The fact that I look like some lady who died back in the 1980's. So I looked her up in the Hogwarts library. The thing is gigantic, and contains not only books, but what I swear to be a collection of every 'Daily Prophet' in the last three hundred years (yes, it goes back that far). I was able to find two newspaper cuttings giving me information on Lily Evens. The first one was in July, 1978. It was about Lily Evens wedding to a James Potter. This is what it said. "_Today, Lily Evens and James Potter were united in marriage. It was a large celebration between two of_ _Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry's honor students and Head boy and girl. James Potter a well known pure blood popular at school had finally married the girl of his dreams. James's friend and best man Sirius Black said, "Everyone knows that James had been fawning over Lily since he was 5__th__ year, but we never really believed that he would get her. This marriage is proof that miracles do happen!"_ _The now happily married couple does show that even in this dark time, life and happiness can be found"_ It was a short article, and didn't tell me much; except that Lily had married a guy name d James Potter- but Mark could have told me that. The next article told me a bit more, but it was a bit dark. I feel a bit sorry for Harry having read it. "_Today was a happy ay for the wizarding world, for at last He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named was vanquished at last. Although little is known about how the well renowned Dark Lord met his end, these few facts have been established._ _On the 31__st__ of October, You-Know-Who went to Godric's Hallow, the home and hiding place of James and Lily Potter. There he killed the two, moving on to their 1 year old son, Harry Potter. For some reason unknown Harry Potter was not killed, and the curse rebounded on the caster killing him._ _While the world rejoices for the end of those 11 dark years, many mourn for the deaths of Lily and James. Married two years previous, the two were well known and liked by many. As for their orphaned son Harry, Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts says he is taking him two his only relatives, a small muggle family-" _ The article went on talking about criticism of Dumbledore's action and a few of the deeds that Voldemort had done. So, from those two articles, and info from Mark, I knew this; Lily Evens was Head girl. She married James Potter in 1978. She was popular and well liked. She was murdered by lord Voldemort on Halloween about 20 years ago. Her Son is Harry Potter. Not a lot to go on. I was a bit unhappy to say that my investigation was leading in a bunch of dead ends. But I didn't give up. I went through h a bunch of old school records, trying to find out if Lily Evens got any awards in something I was good at. So I didn't get much of a lead there. I was going to go and maybe look up her husband if I hadn't got stuck in the hospital wing. I'll do that as soon as I get out of here- that and a bit f homework. Oh the busy life of a pre-teen at a magical school. Ah, morning. And my arm looks way better- even though it hurt when I was taking out those stupid spines, I have to admit Madame Pomfry knows her stuff. Although I think the cream may have given me another weird dream. That's right, I had another dream. This one was even weirder- and a bit scarier- than the last one. Want to know what it was about? Okay, it was like this… I running a lot, and dodging a bunch of spells. I remember there were a lot of people around me, a lot of them in these weird cloaks and masks. Then I started having a little battle with a couple of them- they were shooting some spells that I don't know, but I could tell it was bad. Then I looked around and I saw two other people laughing. One was a lady ( who looked just a bit insane), and she was dressed in that spooky mask. The guy she was fighting had long black hair and looked strangely familiar. Then the lady shot a spell at the man which was bright red, and he started to fall backwards. I heard my mouth shout out "SIRIUS" as the guy fell into what looked like some old arch. Then I charged toward the arch, knowing that I had to get to the guy who had fallen. But I was stopped from somebody- and guess what, it was Professor Lupin! That's right, another crazy dream, and this one had at least one guy I knew, and someone who looked familiar. I'm telling you, these dreams are just plain strange. And scary. If any of you know something about weird dream analysis, I would really be interested on what you have to say about them. Right, I think that's enough talk about pictures my subconscious creates when I am no longer in consciousness. Wow, I didn't even know I knew all those words. But anyway, on to about two hours later when I was released from the hospital wing and searching the library for records of 'James Potter'. There was a bit more on James. He had a couple awards for wining the Quidditch cup for Gryffindor ( turns out he was a very good flyer). He also happened to have been mentioned at least 50 times in things about pranks. There was everything, filling the lake with giant pink bubbles, turning the entire castle red and gold… He was good. Or, at least his group was. There was this chubby guy called Peter, another one called Sirius and – wow- LUPIN! This was interesting. Who knew that old Professor Lupin had it in him? So ignoring that interesting tidbit of info, I looked at the pictures included. I'll tell you, James sure looked like his son (or his son looked like him). And then there was his companion in crime, Sirius, he looks a bit familiar. Wait a sec; I know where I saw him. It was in my dream! Sure, he looked a bit older and stuff, but it was defiantly him. That dream is officially got a lot weirder. How was I meant to dream of some guy I hadn't even heard of? And the guy I dreamed of also happened to be connected to Lily Evens- the person I'm meant to look like. Weird? Very. I think I'm going to have two do a little bit more research on this. But I don't know where to look. The library doesn't seem to have anything else on them, and I doubt that Mark would have that much information on them. It took me a while to figure out who to ask- and then it hit me- Professor Slughorn. He was where I first heard of Lily, and it seems that he knew her well. So I planned it. I would ask old Sluggy (as some people call him) for a bit of information. I can't say I was completely please about it. I don't exactly like Professor Slughorn. First of all, he's the head of Slytherin. Then there's that weird stare. Plus, he always hosts these parties with kids who are really good with classes or have famous parents and always brags about them. It's like he's collected them…. But it most be done. So I stood through the next portions class feeling a little excitement. I felt as if what I was looking for was very important, and I knee that if Slughorn had the information I was looking for, it would be worth it. What exactly I'm looking for, I'm not really sure. At the end of the lessons, I hun back taking a little longer than usual to pack my stuff. Mark and Alex hung with me, and I told them to go ahead. I still haven't told them about my search. I just feel I need to do this myself. Slughorn looked up from my desk and saw me standing there, and I took my chance. "Excuse me Professor, could I please ask you a question?" "Yes, of course Miss Robinson." Even though that's what he said, he still looked to be a bit nervous. "Right, could you please tell me about Lily Evens?" Slughorn looked shocked and a lot more nervous. He gulped. "Why? And how do you know that name?" "I'm just interested. I heard the name around school and I was told you knew her…" Okay, not a very convincing lie, but he might fall for it. "No, you heard me that night. You were waiting outside the door. Now you probably think I'm so kind of fool for being afraid of some kid who looks like one of my old students." Okay, so it didn't work. "Alright, I did hear. I'm really sorry for listening in Professor, but I just couldn't help it. And can you blame me for being curious?" This works with almost all adults. Act sorry and politely interested. Slughorn looked me over, as if trying to decide if he could believe me or not. Eventually he sighed. "Fine, I guess there's no harm in telling you about her. Lily was one of my favorite students. She was witty, smart and very kind. I know I'm not meant to have favorites but I could not help but like her." He smiled, as if thinking about past times. "And then you came along, and I was a bit shocked to say the least. You looked remarkably like Lily did, you know. Same red hair and brilliant green eyes. I could almost believe you were her daughter, even though I know that it's impossible. And then your so much like her in character to, although a bit more mischievous." He gave a feeble little laugh. Okay, so it wasn't the gold mind of information I was looking for. Heck, I don't even know what I'm looking for. All I know is that this is important. It's got something to do with me, I know it. And any bit of info helps. I desired to see if I could get any other stuff out of him. "You're afraid of me because I look so much like her, aren't you?" "No- well yes. But don't take it personally. How would you feel if what seems to be your old favorite student comes back to your class after she's been dead for almost twenty years?" He didn't seem nervous any more, but I got the feeling that he didn't want to talk much. Besides, it didn't seem as if there was much left to say. "Yeah, I understand. Thanks for your time." The old potions master smiled at me. "Your welcome. And I'll try not to feel strange around you any more Miss Robinson. Now, you best run along. I do believe your late for lunch." I nodded to him, and walked out of the classroom, my mind trying to process what information I had got. So I was a lot like Lily, in looks and personality. What did it mean? It could be nothing, but I wasn't sure about that. But then I found my self right in the face of a brown haired freckled boy which I knew very well. "Mark?" "Yes, it's me. Now, can I ask what that was about?" Anyone else getting the sense that Marks annoyed? Good, it's not just me. "Oh, nothing. Just having a little chat with Professor Slughorn. I didn't really understand the method and-" "Oh, come on. You two weren't talking about potions. You were talking about Lily Evens. I heard the conversation." Great, Mark heard. He was probably waiting for me. Why couldn't he have just gone to lunch with Alex? "Well yeah. So what?"

"So what? Why are you so interested in Lily Evens so suddenly? And what's going on that your not telling me about?" "Look, I'm just interested in her, okay. Is that a crime? And who asked you to start eavesdropping in on my conversation anyway?" I was annoyed. I keep like one thing from Mark, and he completely blows it out of proportion. "Oh, like you listened in of Old Sluggy's? Come on, your keeping something from me. You've been acting weird lately, and spending way too much time in the library. Why won't you tell me what's going on?" "It's nothing." I started walking up the corridor up to the stairs that would lead to the entrance hall. "No, it's not nothing. When you grow up with Fred and George, you know when someone's keeping something from you. And you are defiantly hiding something from me." I turned around on Mark, facing him. "Yeah, well maybe I am keeping something from you. But what if I don't want to tell you about it, huh?" "Don't want to tell me about IT? Why not?" "Because I don't. Aren't I aloud to keep secrets?" "NO, your not. Because we're friends. And friends don't keep secrets from each other." "Well, I am keeping a secret from you, so to bad." "Well then maybe we aren't friends!" Mark shouted. "Fne by ME!" I shouted back, and then broke into a run. I didn't go to lunch due to the fact tears were running down my face. And no, I'm not gone to apologize to Weasley. He started it. So what if I want to have a secret? I don't have to tell him everything. He's acting like my mom, that one time I got in trouble at school. And he started it. 


	14. Arthor's Note

Author's Note:

Hi everyone. I would just like to say sorry for taking so long to update. I'm still writing, but I've been stuck without internet access for the last 2 weeks, and the vacations really busy so I don't know how soon my next update will be.

I would also like to say, "IT"S ALMOST HERE!" That's write, tomorrow, at midnight it finally happens. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be out in stores (I will be at one of the Party's with the rest of us fans). We will finally see if Snape's evil, how Voldemort will die, and if Ron and Hermione will get together already!

So thanks for reading, and have a good summer and realese date.


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